Are COVID-19 conspiracies a threat to public health? Psychological characteristics and health protective behaviours of believers
The fast-changing COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to many conspiracy theories, and these have the potential to undermine public health measures and safeguarding behaviours. We conducted three studies before and during the COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom (UK) (n = 302, 404 and 399) to (i) identify the prevalence of COVID-19 conspiracy theories in the UK, (ii) map their socio-psychological predictors, and (iii) investigate their association with health safeguarding behaviours. We found COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs were prevalent (25% of participants endorsed at least one) and predicted by beliefs in unrelated conspiracies, a conspiracy mind-set, distrust in governmental authorities, education, and cognitive reflection. Unexpectedly, COVID-19 conspiracy believers adhered to basic health guidelines both before and after the lockdown as strictly as non-believers (e.g., washing hands, social distancing) and adopted more advanced health protective behaviours not (yet) officially recommended in the UK (e.g., wearing a mask, washing groceries with soap). Conspiracy believers were also more reluctant to install the contact-tracing app, get tested for and vaccinated against COVID-19 because of the perceived risks associated with these procedures. We discuss psychological characteristics that explain the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and people’s behaviours and intentions, and suggest practical recommendations for public health initiatives.