Researchers test end-of-the-world beliefs

But will the flying saucers come this time? Photograph: Radford/Fortean/TopFoto

When the world ends this year, psychologists and novelists can take advantage, much as they did when the world ended in the 1950s. Advance notice of the timing comes from a corporate source: Harold Egbert Camping, president of a chain of radio stations based in California, called Family Network, Inc, which says it "regards the Lord Jesus Christ as its chief executive officer".

This will be another test of American psychologist Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance, which Festinger presented in his 1956 book When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group That Predicted the Destruction of the World.

More Here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/may/16/research-end-of-the-world