Daniel Toribio-Flórez

Daniel Toribio-Flórez is a Post Doctoral Researcher at the University of Kent's School of Psychology working under Professor Karen Douglas, specializing in the societal consequences of conspiracy theories across political, health, and environmental domains. His research bridges theoretical social psychology with real-world applications in digital communication and public policy.

Education:

• BSc in Psychology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
• MSc in Social Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands)
• PhD, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods (Germany), supervised by Prof. Anna Baumert (2017-2021)

Toribio-Flórez's scholarly focus centers on conspiracy theories' psychological mechanisms and societal impacts, particularly examining how they influence interpersonal trust, relationship satisfaction, and political behavior. His work on attitudinal ambivalence explores strategic uses of cognitive conflict in social impression management, while his commitment to open science drives participation in multi-lab replication projects addressing reproducibility crises in social psychology. Current investigations analyze cross-cultural variations in conspiracy belief propagation through social media platforms and their links to political violence.

Analysis of his 15 most recent publications (2021-2025) reveals dominant trends in conspiracy theory research, with 80% of works examining interpersonal/social consequences and 60% involving international collaborations across 68+ countries. Key methodological approaches include large-scale surveys, experimental designs, and meta-analyses focused on digital communication patterns, reflecting growing scholarly attention to online misinformation ecosystems.

Toribio-Flórez actively contributes to open science infrastructure through projects like the TISP dataset on global science trust and multi-site replication studies. His collaborative network spans 15+ institutions across Europe and North America, with recent work involving researchers from Germany, Netherlands, and the UK in investigating science communication challenges. He maintains active roles in meta-research initiatives promoting transparent methodologies within social psychology.