scholarly journals Social consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: Evidence from two studies in Slovakia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Šrol ◽  
Vladimira Cavojova ◽  
Eva Ballová Mikušková
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Distinct Pattern ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Wide Spread ◽  
Government Regulations ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Lack Of Control ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Prejudice And Discrimination ◽  
Negative Feelings

One of the appeals of conspiracy theories in times of crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, is that they provide a scapegoat – someone to blame for what has happened. By doing this, they increase distrust, negative feelings, and even hostility toward implicated actors, whether those are powerful social outgroups or one’s own government representatives. We report two studies to examine such social consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy theories. In Study 1 (N = 501), we showed the distinct pattern of relationships between China-specific and generic COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and prejudice and discrimination toward three social groups associated with the pandemic. In Study 2 (N = 1024), lowered trust in government regulations and increased hostility associated with the COVID-19 and generic conspiracy beliefs predicted justification of and willingness to engage in non-compliance with government regulations, violent attacks on 5G masts, and anti-government protests. Also, across both studies, increased exposure to information about COVID-19 was associated with endorsing fewer conspiracy theories, but it also brought about stronger feelings of anxiety and lack of control, which in turn contributed to higher conspiracy belief. We highlight the potential social problems associated with the wide-spread COVID-19 conspiracy theories as well as potential solutions to counteract them.

scholarly journals Finding Someone to Blame: The Link Between COVID-19 Conspiracy Beliefs, Prejudice, Support for Violence, and Other Negative Social Outcomes

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Šrol ◽  
Vladimíra Čavojová ◽  
Eva Ballová Mikušková
Keyword(s):  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Outcomes ◽  
Trust In Government ◽  
Wide Spread ◽  
Government Regulations ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Lack Of Control ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Negative Feelings

One of the appeals of conspiracy theories in times of crises is that they provide someone to blame for what has happened. Thereby, they increase distrust, negative feelings, and hostility toward implicated actors, whether those are powerful social outgroups or one’s own government representatives. Two studies reported here examine associations of COVID-19 conspiracy theories with prejudice, support for violence, and other and negative social outcomes. In Study 1 (N = 501), the endorsement of the more specific conspiracy theories about the alleged role of China was associated with more prejudiced views of Chinese and Italian people. In Study 2 (N = 1024), lowered trust in government regulations and increased hostility associated with the COVID-19 and generic conspiracy beliefs were correlated with justification of and willingness to engage in non-compliance with regulations, violent attacks on 5G masts, and anti-government protests. Across both of the studies, higher exposure to news about COVID-19 was associated with lower endorsement of conspiracy theories, but also with increased feelings of anxiety and lack of control, which in turn were correlated with higher COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs endorsement. We highlight the potential social problems which are associated with the wide-spread endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy theories.

scholarly journals Belief in COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories Reduces Social Distancing over Time

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinga Bierwiaczonek ◽  
Jonas R. Kunst ◽  
Olivia Pich
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Survey ◽  
Wide Spread ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Longitudinal Survey Data ◽  
Distance Methods ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Over Time

Background Conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19 are wide-spread and have even been propagated by highly ranked state officials and politicians in the U.S. Health authorities have cautioned that such theories, although not questioning the existence of the pandemic, may increase the spread of the virus by reducing people’s efforts to socially distance. Methods We test this proposition empirically using longitudinal survey data collected at five time points during the early outbreak of the virus in the U.S. (N = 403). ResultsMultivariate growth curve analyses showed that, although conspiracy beliefs decreased and social distancing increased over time, people holding more conspiracy beliefs at the beginning of the pandemic showed the lowest increase in social distancing. Moreover, cross-lagged analyses demonstrated that people who reported more conspiracy beliefs at any wave tended to report less social distancing at the following wave. ConclusionsOur findings show that COVID-19 conspiracy theories pose a significant threat to public health as they may reduce adherence to social distancing measures.Keywords Conspiracy theories, COVID-19, social distancing, longitudinal

scholarly journals When we are worried, what are we thinking? Anxiety, lack of control, and conspiracy beliefs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Šrol ◽  
Eva Ballová Mikušková ◽  
Vladimira Cavojova
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Conspiracy Theory ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Perception Of Risk ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Trust In Institutions ◽  
Lack Of Control ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs

Societal crises and stressful events are associated with an upsurge of conspiracy beliefs that may help people to tackle feelings of lack of control. In our study (N = 783), we examined whether people with higher feelings of anxiety and lack of control early in the COVID-19 pandemic endorse more conspiracy theories. Our results show that a higher perception of risk of COVID-19 and lower trust in institutions’ response to the pandemic were related to feelings of anxiety and lack of control. Feeling the lack of control, but not anxiety, independently predicted COVID-19 conspiracy theory endorsement. Importantly, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs were strongly correlated with generic conspiracy and pseudoscientific beliefs, which were likewise associated with the feeling of lack of control and lower trust in institutions. The results highlight that considering people’s emotional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial for our understanding of the spread of conspiracy and pseudoscientific beliefs.

scholarly journals Beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories predict lower level of compliance with the preventive measures both directly and indirectly by lowering trust in government medical officials

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena Pavela Banai ◽  
Benjamin Banai ◽  
Igor Mikloušić
Keyword(s):  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Trust In Government ◽  
Multiple Mediation ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Rapid Spread ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a global health crisis, making compliance with governmental policies and public health advice crucial in decreasing transmission rates. At the same time, we are faced with the rapid spread of COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the predictive power of COVID-19 conspiracy theories in explaining the level of compliance with official COVID-19 guidelines, by including mediating roles of pseudoscientific information beliefs and trust in government officials. A total of 1882 participants provided sociodemographic information and completed all measures in the study. Multiple mediation analysis revealed a direct negative effect of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs on the compliance with the preventive measures. In addition, conspiracy beliefs were indirectly associated with compliance via trust in government officials. The present study builds upon emerging research showing that conspiracy beliefs have potentially significant social consequences. Practical implications of these findings are further discussed.

»Sometimes you just have to go in « – The link between conspiracy beliefs and political action

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pia Lamberty ◽  
David Leiser
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Violent Action ◽  
One Year

Even though conspiracy theories often address political issues, the question of how conspiracy beliefs affect people's political action has not been satisfyingly answered. We show how conspiracy beliefs are linked to political action. Study 1 (N = 203) shows that conspiracy beliefs were linked to violence. Study 2 (N = 268) supported the notion that conspiracy beliefs were linked to weaker support for normative actions and stronger support of violent action. In Study 3 (N = 180), we explored experimentally whether conspiracy beliefs increase violent action. The longitudinal Study 4 (N T1 = 523, N T2 = 274, N T3 = 199) showed over a timespan of one year that conspiracy beliefs increased non-normative political action.

‘Things are not what they seem to be’: A proposal for the spectrum approach to conspiracy beliefs

2021 ◽  
pp. 103985622110081
Author(s):  
Vladan Starcevic ◽  
Vlasios Brakoulias
Keyword(s):  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Persecutory Delusions ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Community Or ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs

Objective: Conspiracy beliefs (also known as conspiracy theories) become more prominent at times of heightened uncertainty and inconsistent or conflicting explanations provided by the authorities for events like terrorist attacks or pandemics, such as COVID-19. This article aims to examine the relevance of conspiracy beliefs for psychiatry in the context of the dynamics of trust and mistrust. Conclusions: Conspiracy beliefs may be situated on a spectrum of mistrust-related phenomena, which extends from healthy scepticism to persecutory delusions. They can be conceptualised as unfounded and fixed beliefs held with strong conviction about harm inflicted by powerful groups on the community or another group of people, usually with preserved insight that these beliefs differ from those that most people have and with reasons for having such beliefs not necessarily being implausible. It is important for conspiracy beliefs to be distinguished from persecutory delusions.

scholarly journals The dangers of blind trust: Examining the interplay among social media news use, misinformation identification, and news trust on conspiracy beliefs

2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252199802
Author(s):  
Xizhu Xiao ◽  
Porismita Borah ◽  
Yan Su
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
News Consumption ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Moderation Model ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Significant Moderator ◽  
News Use

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation has been circulating on social media and multiple conspiracy theories have since become quite popular. We conducted a U.S. national survey for three main purposes. First, we aim to examine the association between social media news consumption and conspiracy beliefs specific to COVID-19 and general conspiracy beliefs. Second, we investigate the influence of an important moderator, social media news trust, that has been overlooked in prior studies. Third, we further propose a moderated moderation model by including misinformation identification. Our findings show that social media news use was associated with higher conspiracy beliefs, and trust in social media news was found to be a significant moderator of the relationship between social media news use and conspiracy beliefs. Moreover, our findings show that misinformation identification moderated the relationship between social media news use and trust. Implications are discussed.

Are misinformation, antiscientific claims, and conspiracy theories for political extremists?

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-605
Author(s):  
Adam M. Enders ◽  
Joseph E. Uscinski
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Political Left ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Political Groups ◽  
Representative Samples

Extremist political groups, especially “extreme” Republicans and conservatives, are increasingly charged with believing misinformation, antiscientific claims, and conspiracy theories to a greater extent than moderates and those on the political left by both a burgeoning scholarly literature and popular press accounts. However, previous investigations of the relationship between political orientations and alternative beliefs have been limited in their operationalization of those beliefs and political extremity. We build on existing literature by examining the relationships between partisan and nonpartisan conspiracy beliefs and symbolic and operational forms of political extremity. Using two large, nationally representative samples of Americans, we find that ideological extremity predicts alternative beliefs only when the beliefs in question are partisan in nature and the measure of ideology is identity-based. Moreover, we find that operational ideological extremism is negatively related to nonpartisan conspiracy beliefs. Our findings help reconcile discrepant findings regarding the relationship between political orientations and conspiracy beliefs.

Creating Conspiracy Beliefs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dolores Albarracin ◽  
Julia Albarracin ◽  
Man-pui Sally Chan ◽  
Kathleen Hall Jamieson
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Ideological Bias ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Disciplinary Perspective ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
The Media ◽  
Information Sciences

Conspiracy theories spread more widely and faster than ever before. Fear and uncertainty prompt people to believe false narratives of danger and hidden plots, but are not sufficient without considering the role and ideological bias of the media. This timely book focuses on making sense of how and why some people respond to their fear of a threat by creating or believing conspiracy stories. It integrates insights from psychology, political science, communication, and information sciences to provide a complete overview and theory of how conspiracy beliefs manifest. Through this multi-disciplinary perspective, rigoros research develops and tests a practical, simple way to frame and understand conspiracy theories. The book supplies unprecedented amounts of new data from six empirical studies and unpicks the complexity of the process that leads to the empowerment of conspiracy beliefs.

scholarly journals Is It All a Conspiracy? Conspiracy Theories and People’s Attitude to COVID-19 Vaccination

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng Yang ◽  
Xi Luo ◽  
Hepeng Jia
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Quota Sampling ◽  
To Receive ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Vaccination Hesitancy

A large body of research has found that people’s beliefs in conspiracy theories about infectious diseases negatively impacts their health behaviors concerning vaccination. Conspiracy belief-based vaccination hesitancy has become more rampant after the global outbreak of COVID-19. However, some important questions remain unanswered. For instance, do different versions of conspiracy theories—particularly conspiracy theories about the origin of the epidemic (e.g., that the SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a Wuhan virology laboratory or that the virus was of foreign origin) and the general theories about vaccine conspiracies (e.g., pharmaceutical companies covered up the danger of vaccines or people are being deceived about the effectiveness of vaccines)—have the same effect on vaccination intentions? Through a national survey adopting quota sampling in China, the current study tested the relationship between people’s conspiracy beliefs and their intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. The findings show that people’s embrace of conspiracy theories did indeed affect their intention to take COVID-19 shots. However, only conspiracy theories related to vaccines had a significant impact, while belief in more general theories about COVID-19 did not significantly affect vaccination intentions. People’s knowledge of vaccines (vaccine literacy) played an important role in this relationship. People with lower beliefs in vaccines conspiracy theories and higher levels of vaccine literacy were more likely to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

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