Searching for General Model of Conspiracy Theories and Its Implication for Public Health Policy: Analysis of the Impacts of Political, Psychological, Structural Factors on Conspiracy Beliefs about the COVID-19 Pandemic

Partisan Bias in COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories: News Reliance and the Moderating Role of Trust in Health Authorities

Neglecting the role of political bias in the public's perceptions of health authorities could be deceptive when studying potentially politicized COVID-19 conspiracy theories (CCTs); however, previous studies often treated health authorities as a single entity and did not distinguish between different types of CCTs. Drawing from motivated reasoning theory, we investigate the politically motivated nature of CCTs by examining their associations with individuals' media reliance, party identification, conspiratorial mentality, and importantly, trust in (politicized or independent) health authorities. In a national survey conducted in late 2020 (N = 2,239) in Turkey, a heavily polarized context, we found that not accounting for political identities shown in CCTs and health authorities could be misleading. While those with a strong conspiracy mentality were more likely to endorse all types of CCTs, party identification and trust in different types of health authorities led people to believe in certain CCTs aligning with their political attitudes. The influence of media reliance on CCTs depended on the level of trust in health authorities, again suggestive of the influence of political partialities.

Covid-19 skepticism and public health norms during refugee assistance: does skepticism always lead to poor safety protocol adherence?

BACKGROUND

Skepticism about COVID-19's existence or severity has spread as fast as the disease itself, and in some populations has been shown to undermine protective public health behaviors that can mitigate infection. For populations that are especially vulnerable to COVID spread and severity, such as refugees, COVID skepticism is particularly problematic.

METHODS

We examine data collected from observations of humanitarian services provided to refugees in Lebanon, Türkiye, and Jordan to determine if skepticism is related to adherence to specific health-protective protocols (masking, social distancing, and hand sanitizing), and whether the effects of COVID skepticism are mediated by particular populations of refugees or the country in which those refugees receive assistance.

RESULTS

We found that community skepticism (the frequency of COVID skepticism expressed by others within a service location) is associated with lower adherence to certain protocols and not others. We also found that with certain protocols, the country in which refugees receive services mediates the relationship between community skepticism and protocol adherence, but for other protocols the relationship between skepticism and adherence is independent of either country in which refugees reside or the refugee population being served.

CONCLUSIONS

The existence of skepticism about COVID-19 does not always lead to an unwillingness to take protective measures to avoid infection. The mechanisms underlying the relationship between skepticism and adherence to health-protective protocols vary based on the type of protocol in question. In order to increase protocol adherence, the specific variables predicting adherence to different protocols need to be assessed in order to increase adherence and improve public health during humanitarian services.

Psychiatric and non-psychiatric patients during the midst of Covid-19: Pandemic distress, psychosis and the belief in conspiracy theories

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increased levels of psychological distress in the general population, at the same time providing a perfect breeding ground for conspiracy beliefs. Psychiatric patients are considered as a population with an increased vulnerability for stressful events, and conspiracy beliefs show overlaps with paranoid ideations. The aim of the present study was to investigate if psychiatric patients experienced higher levels of pandemic distress than non-psychiatric patients, if they were more prone to conspiracy beliefs and if pandemic distress as well as other mental health variables were associated with believing in conspiracy theories.

METHODS

Indicators for mental health (pandemic distress, depressive symptoms, general anxiety symptoms, perceived stress) and indicators for believing in conspiracy theories were assessed within psychiatric (n = 73) and non-psychiatric patients (n = 29) during the midst of the pandemic.

RESULTS

Psychiatric patients reported higher levels of pandemic distress than non-psychiatric patients. Conspiracy measurements correlated positively with pandemic distress, but not with anxiety and depression. No differences were found between psychiatric patients with or without psychotic disorder and non-psychiatric patients in regard to conspiracy measurements.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest a higher susceptibility of psychiatric patients to pandemic distress, but not an increased level of believing in conspiracy theories. The common notion that people suffering from psychosis are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories was not supported. Furthermore, distress caused by a specific event and not anxiety per se seems to be related to the degree of conspiracy beliefs.

Undermining support for COVID-19 public health policies: an analysis of the impact of subversive conspiracy narratives on Czech General Practitioners

BACKGROUND

Limited knowledge exists regarding the impact of COVID-19 conspiracy theories on the professional practice of general practitioners (GPs). This study aimed to identify the basic characteristics of GPs who endorse COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and compare their level of support for COVID-19 health policies with GPs who do not believe in conspiracies.

METHODS

Between January and February 2021, a representative online survey was conducted among 1163 GPs in the Czech Republic. The sample was designed to be representative of members of The Association of GPs of the Czech Republic.

RESULTS

The survey revealed that nearly 14% of the GPs surveyed believed in one or more COVID-19 conspiracies. The average age of GPs who endorsed conspiracies was 58, which was higher than the rest of the sample (average age of 50). GPs who believed in conspiracies were less likely to support COVID-19 public health policies and therapy recommendations, including vaccination. Logistic and linear regression analyses indicated that doctors who believed in conspiracies were 2.62 times less likely to have received a COVID-19 vaccine. Mediation analysis showed that approximately one-quarter (23.21%) of the total effect of trust in government information on support for public health policies was indirectly mediated by the endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs.

CONCLUSIONS

The study findings suggest a concerning association between belief in COVID-19 conspiracies and a reduced level of support for public health policies among GPs. These results underscore the importance of incorporating the 'conspiracy agenda' into medical authorities' more effective public health communication strategies.

Do media objectivity and frequency of informing mediate the relationship between traditionalist social attitudes and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs?

In this study, we hypothesized that traditionalist social attitudes (conservatism, religiousness, and authoritarianism) significantly predict COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs (Hiding Information and Harmless Virus), as well as conspiracy mentality in general. We also hypothesized that these relationships are mediated by the objectivity of the media through which individuals inform themselves, and the frequency with which people informed themselves about the pandemic. The sample consisted of 341 participants from Serbia (mean age 33.51 years), of which 40.5% were women. The results revealed that conservatism predicts both conspiracy belief sets and conspiracy mentality, authoritarianism only COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, and religiousness only beliefs that the virus is harmless. Media objectivity does not mediate these relationships. The frequency of informing is a significant mediator only of the relationships between authoritarianism, and conspiracy beliefs and conspiracy mentality, indicating that the role of seeking information is in reducing the threat perceived by more authoritarian individuals. The study reveals that media objectivity might not play a role in reducing conspiracy beliefs. An explanation might be found in the importance of the perceived credibility of the media.

Believing in conspiracy theories in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic: Drivers and public health implications

Conspiracy theories jeopardize public health by disseminating misinformation and undermining authoritative health guidelines. This study explores social factors associated with the belief in conspiracy theories in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of Max Weber, it posits that beliefs in conspiracy theories are linked to both instrumental rationality considerations, such as trust in health authorities, science, and pharmaceutical companies, as well as value-rationality based factors, such as ideological orientation. The study analyzes recent, nationally representative survey data and is the first to examine the social predictors of belief in conspiracy theories in Spain during the pandemic. The findings highlight that conspiracy theory beliefs are (a) associated with considerably worse vaccination behaviors, (b) not or only very weakly associated with standard demographics such as age, sex, or education, (c) related to instrumental rationality considerations, and (d) only weakly related to value-rationality indicators such as ideological and religious affiliations. In conclusion, the study underscores the significance of public health policies that specifically address conspiracy theory convictions, and to that end, advocates for the application of a Weberian sociological perspective to better understand the diverse rationalities underlying these beliefs, particularly in the absence of discernible demographic predictors.

Belief in COVID-19 related conspiracy theories around the globe: A systematic review

Conspiracy theories have been widespread in public discourses about COVID-19. Belief in conspiracy theories has negative effects on COVID-19 protective and preventive behaviour. However, evidence on the prevalence of belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, remains fragmented. We conducted a systematic review on the adult general population prevalence of belief in different COVID-19 conspiracy theories at country and regional level around the globe. Searches were performed in PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases (end of search: March 22, 2022). We followed guidelines for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). We identified 1637 potentially relevant titles in our search and included 33 studies in our review, reflecting conspiracy theory endorsement between March 2020 and August 2021. We found high belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories in most studies: 29 studies measured at least one conspiracy theory belief prevalence ≥20%. For several conspiracy theories, e.g. "Lab origin" or "Destabilization and power gain", prevalence was often between 20 and 50%. Our findings call for increased awareness about COVID-19 conspiracy theories and the need for tailored, context specific conspiracy theory preparedness, prevention and control. Development and integration of a public health oriented communication and infodemic management strategy, alongside the implementation of conspiracy theory endorsement risk assessments are essential for supporting public health policy in future health emergencies.

Conspiracy thinking and the long historical shadow of Romanticism on authoritarian politics

Background

Similar effect sizes have been reported for the effects of conspiracy, pseudoscientific, and paranormal beliefs on authoritarian attitudes, which points to a conceptual problem at the heart of the conspiracy literature, namely lack of clarity as to what uniquely defines conspiracy beliefs and whether those unique elements contribute distinctly to authoritarian ideologies. To our knowledge, this is the first study to test empirically the predictive power of variance unique to each construct against covariance shared among these constructs when predicting authoritarian and anti-democratic attitudes.

Methods

Online survey was administered to 314 participants in 2021 that included a battery of demographic and psychological measures. Hierarchical factor models were used to isolate unique variance from shared covariance among responses to items representing conspiracy, paranormal and pseudoscientific beliefs. Structural equation models were used to test their unique and shared effects on authoritarian and anti-democratic attitudes.

Results

We found that our combined measurement model of paranormal thinking, conspiracism, and pseudoscience exhibited exceptional model fit, and that each construct was strongly predictive of both SDO and RWA (r = 0.73-0.86). Once the shared covariance was partitioned into a higher order factor, the residual uniqueness in each first order factors was either negatively related or unrelated to authoritarian and anti-democratic attitudes. Moreover, the higher order factor explained the gross majority of variance in conspiracy (R2 = 0.81) paranormal (R2 = 0.81) and pseudoscientific (R2 = 0.95) beliefs and was a far stronger predictor (β = 0.85, p < 0.01) of anti-democratic attitudes than political partisanship (β = 0.17, p < 0.01). Strong partisan identifiers of both parties showed much higher romanticism scores than party moderates.

Conclusion and limitations

When predicting authoritarian and anti-democratic attitudes, we found no empirically unique contributions of conspiracy beliefs. Instead, we found that a shared factor, representing a 'romantic' mindset was the main predictor of authoritarian and anti-democratic attitudes. This finding potentially explains failures of interventions in stopping the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theory researchers should refocus on the shared features that conspiracy thinking has with other unwarranted epistemic beliefs to better understand how to halt the spread of misinformation, conspiracy thinking, anti-science attitudes, and even global authoritarianism.

Moral foundations are better predictors of belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories than the Big Five personality traits

Upon the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, various conspiracy theories regarding the virus proliferated in the social media. This study focused on the sociodemographic, personality, and moral predictors of these beliefs. More specifically, we asked whether moral values predict belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories over and above sociodemographic variables and the Big Five personality traits. According to Moral Foundations Theory, five cross-cultural moral foundations are more broadly categorized under individualizing (Care & Fairness) and binding (Loyalty, Authority, & Sanctity) foundations. A sixth moral foundation was Liberty which we included along with binding and individualizing foundations. Participants were 227 Iranians (mean age = 31.43, SD = 12.61, 75.3% female) who responded to Moral Foundations Questionnaire and Liberty items, a range of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, and the 10-Item Personality Measure of the Big Five. Among demographic variables, religiosity and socioeconomic status were the strongest determinants of conspiracy beliefs regarding the origin of Coronavirus. Among the Big Five, only extraversion predicted these beliefs in a positive direction. Moral foundations, most notably Authority and Sanctity, showed incremental predictive power over both demographic variables and the Big Five personality traits. Findings are discussed in light of the role of social media in dissemination of conspiracy beliefs regarding the pandemic. They point to the more relevance of moral foundations, particularly binding foundations, than the Big Five in the context of pandemic-related conspiracy beliefs, and add to the literature on the unique contribution of moral foundations to socio-political attitudes across cultures.

Contemporary trends in psychological research on conspiracy beliefs. A systematic review

Background

The number of psychological studies on conspiracy beliefs has been systematically growing for about a dozen years, but in recent years, the trend has intensified. We provided a review covering the psychological literature on conspiracy beliefs from 2018 to 2021. Halfway through this period, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, accompanied by an explosion of movements based on conspiracy theories, intensifying researchers' interest in this issue.

Methods

Adhering to PRISMA guidelines, the review systematically searched for relevant journal articles published between 2018 and 2021. A search was done on Scopus and Web of Science (only peer-reviewed journals). A study was included if it contained primary empirical data, if specific or general conspiracy belief(s) were measured and if its correlation with at least one other psychological variable was reported. All the studies were grouped for the descriptive analysis according to the methodology used, the participants' characteristics, the continent of origin, the sample size, and the conspiracy beliefs measurement tools. Due to substantial methodological heterogeneity of the studies, narrative synthesis was performed. The five researchers were assigned specific roles at each stage of the analysis to ensure the highest quality of the research.

Results

Following the proposed methodology, 308 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility and 274 articles (417 studies) meeting the inclusion criteria were identified and included in the review. Almost half of the studies (49.6%) were conducted in European countries. The vast majority of the studies (85.7%) were carried out on samples of adult respondents. The research presents antecedents as well as (potential) consequences of conspiracy beliefs. We grouped the antecedents of conspiracy beliefs into six categories: cognitive (e.g., thinking style) motivational (e.g., uncertainty avoidance), personality (e.g., collective narcissism), psychopathology (e.g., Dark Triad traits), political (e.g., ideological orientation), and sociocultural factors (e.g., collectivism).

Conclusion and limitations

The research presents evidence on the links between conspiracy beliefs and a range of attitudes and behaviors considered unfavorable from the point of view of individuals and of the society at large. It turned out that different constructs of conspiracy thinking interact with each other. The limitations of the study are discussed in the last part of the article.

Scientific reasoning is associated with rejection of unfounded health beliefs and adherence to evidence-based regulations during the Covid-19 pandemic

Scientific reasoning and trust in science are two facets of science understanding. This paper examines the contribution of science understanding, over and above analytic thinking, to the endorsement of conspiracy and pseudoscientific beliefs about COVID-19 and behavioral intentions to engage in the recommended preventive behavior. We examined the direct and indirect effects of science understanding on normative health behavior in a representative sample of the Slovak population (N = 1024). The results showed more support for the indirect pathway: individuals with a better understanding of science generally had fewer epistemically suspect beliefs and as a consequence tended to behave more in line with the evidence-based guidelines and get vaccinated. Neither scientific reasoning nor trust in science directly predicted non-compliance with preventive measures, but analytic thinking correlated positively with non-compliance with preventive measures. The strongest predictor of epistemically suspect beliefs was trust in science, which also directly predicted the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Therefore, reasoning about which experts or sources to believe (second-order scientific reasoning) has become more important than directly evaluating the original evidence (first-order scientific reasoning).

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-023-04284-y.

Declared Intention to Vaccinate against COVID-19 and Actual Vaccination-The Role of Trust in Science, Conspiratorial Thinking and Religiosity

AIMS

The study aims to investigate how trust in science, conspiratorial thinking, and religiosity affected people's declared willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 at the onset of the vaccination program in Poland, their actual vaccination, and the consistency between intention and vaccination.

METHODS

In a longitudinal design, a representative sample of 918 members of the Polish general population was polled at the beginning of the vaccination program (February 2021) and polled again after 6 months of mass vaccination (August 2021). We measured the willingness to vaccinate, actual vaccination after 6 months, and individual variables-trust in science, conspiratorial thinking and religiosity.

RESULTS

The actual vaccination rate was higher than the declared intent, especially in the initially undecided and unwilling groups. Higher Trust in science and lower Conspiratorial Thinking were associated with declared intent to vaccinate and actual vaccination, while Religiosity was not clearly associated with vaccination.

CONCLUSIONS

Declared willingness to vaccinate is not an effective indicator of actual vaccination. Trust in science and Conspiratorial thinking are important factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. There may be a possibility to influence those unwilling to vaccinate and that are undecided to eventually get vaccinated.

Survey on public awareness, attitudes and self-protective behavior adoption in different periods of COVID-19

Introduction

The outbreak and spread of the pandemics have been an issue of critical concern globally, posing a significant threat to the health sector globally. This study aimed to examine the basic knowledge and attitudes toward the recommended protective measures at different times, respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and provide recommendations for developing targeted strategies and measures for preventing and controlling public health emergencies.

Methods

The study used self-filled questionnaires to examine the public's knowledge, attitudes, and practices on COVID-19 at two different period, from 20 to 31 March 2020 (the beginning period) and 22-27 April 2022 (the regular epidemic prevention and control period). Descriptive and quantitative analyses were used for statistical analysis.

Results and discussion

The survey collected 2375 valid questionnaires. A comparison of the two periods reveals that as the epidemic continued over a long period, the level of knowledge, attitudes toward preventive measures, risk perceptions, and adoption behavior of the respondents at the beginning of the epidemic were significantly higher than during the regular epidemic prevention and control period. With the upsurge in the spread of the epidemic, the public needs a multi-channel, targeted, and all-round guidance and information on prevention and control of the COVID-19, and internalizes knowledge into individual's behavior of actively responding to diseases.When the epidemic lasts for a long time, the relevant agencies should strengthen their monitoring role to promote public compliance with the recommended measures.

Beliefs about the nature of knowledge shape responses to the pandemic: Epistemic beliefs, the Dark Factor of Personality, and COVID-19-related conspiracy ideation and behavior

OBJECTIVE

Global challenges such as climate change or the COVID-19 pandemic have drawn public attention to conspiracy theories and citizens' non-compliance to science-based behavioral guidelines. We focus on individuals' worldviews about how one can and should construct reality (epistemic beliefs) to explain the endorsement of conspiracy theories and behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic and propose the Dark Factor of Personality (D) as an antecedent of post-truth epistemic beliefs.

METHOD AND RESULTS

This model is tested in four pre-registered studies. In Study 1 (N = 321), we found first evidence for a positive association between D and post-truth epistemic beliefs (Faith in Intuition for Facts, Need for Evidence, Truth is Political). In Study 2 (N = 453), we tested the model proper by further showing that post-truth epistemic beliefs predict the endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracies and disregarding COVID-19 behavioral guidelines. Study 3 (N = 923) largely replicated these results at a later stage of the pandemic. Finally, in Study 4 (N = 513), we replicated the results in a German sample, corroborating their cross-cultural validity. Interactions with political orientation were observed.

CONCLUSION

Our research highlights that epistemic beliefs need to be taken into account when addressing major challenges to humankind.

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Denmark and Russia: A qualitative typology at the nexus of agency and health capital

Vaccination of the world population is being embraced by 184 countries as the main strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic; vaccination rates are stalling even in countries with high vaccine availability, though. This article investigates the phenomenon of vaccine hesitancy in two such countries, the Kingdom of Denmark and the Russian Federation, through a qualitative study of the different types of hesitancy to COVID-19 vaccination programs and their underlying mechanisms. The analysis reveals a typology along the dimensions of agency and health capital: resisting hesitancy based on mistrust of authority, paralyzed hesitancy based on personal fear, informed hesitancy based on informed choice, and empowered hesitancy based on empowered choice. While the mechanisms underlying vaccine hesitancy are to a great extent comparable between the two countries, differences in population size, societal cohesion, and political culture seem to impact the prevalence and severity of types and, thereby, the outcomes of national COVID-19 vaccination programs and national campaigns for mitigating COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The implications of these findings extend beyond the particular context of COVID-19 and the countries studied, supporting and nuancing existing models for vaccine hesitancy, as well as providing a starting point for tailored campaigns for mitigating vaccine hesitancy.

Religiousness in the first year of COVID-19: A systematic review of empirical research

The COVID-19 pandemic emerged suddenly in early 2020, posing a serious health threat and creating tremendous stress and distress across the world. Religion has been shown to play important and varied roles in previous disasters and health crises, but its roles in the pandemic have yet to be outlined. We aimed to summarize the research conducted on religion and COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic with a systematic review of studies that specifically involved individual-level religiousness and COVID-19. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and PsycINFO covering a one-year period from the first published mention of the novel coronavirus (Jan. 5, 2020) through January 4, 2021. We included articles about COVID-19 that were peer-reviewed and empirical, measured and reported results on religion on an individual level, and were available in English. Our search produced 137 empirical articles that met the inclusion criteria. In the course of sorting studies by their primary focus, eight categories of empirical findings emerged: general distress and wellbeing (53 articles), COVID-19-specific stress (24 articles), beliefs in science, conspiracies, and misinformation (15 articles), COVID-19 public health behaviors (12 articles), perceived risk of COVID-19 (10 articles), perceived growth or positive changes taking place during the pandemic (nine articles), health behaviors (three articles), and consumer behavior (three articles). Findings indicated that religiousness was associated with both unique benefits and challenges and played a significant role in the pandemic. Religiousness was associated with a broad range of outcomes across geographical regions and populations during the first year of COVID-19. It was a commonly reported coping mechanism with varying levels of favorable associations with mental health and COVID-19-related behaviors.

Reality bites: An analysis of corona deniers in Germany over time

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unprecedented government interventions in many people's lives. Opposition to these measures was not only based on policy disagreements but for some founded in an outright denial of basic facts surrounding the pandemic, challenging social cohesion. Conspiracy beliefs have been prolific within various protest groups and require attention, as such attitudes have been shown to be associated with lower rule compliance. Several studies have shown that the characteristics linked to holding COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs are complex and manifold; however, those insights usually rest on cross-sectional studies only. We have less knowledge on whether these cross-sectional correlates also reveal which parts of the population have been newly convinced by conspiracy theories or have dropped their support for them as the pandemic evolved. Using a unique panel data set from Germany, this paper explores a wide range of characteristics and compares the insights gained from cross-sectional associations on the one hand and links to the ways in which people change their views on the other hand. The findings show that cross-sectional analyses miss out on nuanced differences between different groups of temporary and more consistent conspiracy supporters. Specifically, this paper identifies major differences in the profiles of people who have been denying COVID-19 consistently compared to those who changed their minds on the question and those who assessed the reality correctly throughout. In doing so, socio-political and perception-based dimensions are differentiated and distinctions between respondents from East and West Germany explored.

Summarising data and factors associated with COVID-19 related conspiracy theories in the first year of the pandemic: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

Conspiracy theories can have particularly harmful effects by negatively shaping health-related behaviours. A significant number of COVID-19 specific conspiracy theories emerged in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic outbreak. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature on conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 during the first year of the pandemic (2020), to identify their prevalence, their determinants and their public health consequences. A comprehensive literature search was carried out in PubMed and PsycINFO to detect all studies examining any conspiracy theory related to COVID-19 between January 1st 2020, and January 10th 2021. Forty-three studies were included with a total of 61,809 participants. Between 0.4 and 82.7% of participants agreed with at least one conspiracy belief. Certain sociodemographic factors (young age, female gender, being non-white, lower socioeconomic status), psychological aspects (pessimism, blaming others, anger) and other qualities (political conservatism, religiosity, mistrust in science and using social media as source of information) were associated with increased acceptance of conspiracy theories. Conspiracy beliefs led to harmful health-related behaviours and posed a serious public health threat. Large-scale collaborations between governments and healthcare organizations are needed to curb the spread of conspiracy theories and their adverse consequences.

Profiles in conspiracism: Associations with two psychiatric syndromes, religiosity and pandemic-related health behaviors

Introduction

Conspiratorial beliefs are often maladaptive for individuals and dangerous for societies. Other prevalent belief systems such as (normative) religious belief and (pathological) delusional belief show parallels to conspiratorial beliefs, which may also be linked to excessive social media exposure. We conducted an online survey to characterize heterogeneous profiles of conspiracy-mindedness, with respect to these other phenomena.

Methods

Eight hundred and thirty six American adults from online panels completed validated questionnaires including the Conspiracy Mindedness Questionnaire (CMQ), Centrality of Religion Scale (CRS), Peters Delusion Inventory (PDI; 21-item version), and Facebook Addiction Scale (FAS). Additionally, they completed 4 questions addressing categorical belief in the origin of SARS-CoV-2, and pandemic-related health behaviors. Total scores on each questionnaire were Z-transformed and entered into K-means cluster analysis. Cluster membership was used in post-hoc analyses to compare pandemic-related items.

Results

An optimal solution included 3 clusters with above-mean (high) CMQ and 3 below-mean (low) CMQ scores. The 3 high-CMQ clusters included: (1) high-religion, low-social media addiction; (2) high religion, social media addiction and delusion; (3) low religion and delusion. High-CMQ clusters 1 and 2 each had rates of zoonotic and malevolent viral origin beliefs that were relatively lower and higher than the grand sample rates, respectively. Significant differences in intended pandemic health-related behaviors among the high-CMQ clusters (compared to the rest of the sample) included Cluster 1-high on Precautions and low on Vaccination; Cluster 2-high on Testing. Respondents who endorsed SARS-CoV-2 origin beliefs (across clusters) that were least plausible and most malevolent were least inclined to engage in pandemic health behaviors.

Conclusions

Distinct subpopulations of persons with high conspiracy-mindedness exist, which are highly heterogeneous in their other coexisting beliefs and behaviors. Some of these may be pathological, such as delusional belief and social media addiction-like behavior, and they have varied associations with pandemic-related belief and behavior. These results, while cross-sectional, suggest that the psychological origins and consequences of conspiratorial beliefs may not be unitary. Instead, conspiratorial belief may be a common expression of diverse psychological and social/experiential factors, and in turn exert varied influence on decisions and overt behavior.

Paranoid beliefs and conspiracy mentality are associated with different forms of mistrust: A three-nation study

Paranoia and conspiracy are terms typically used interchangeably. However, although the underlying content of these types of beliefs might be similar (e.g., seeing others as powerful and threatening), recent research suggests that these constructs differ in important ways. One important feature shared by both constructs is excessive mistrust but this aspect might play different roles in each belief system. In this study we explored the strength of associations of different trust predictors (i.e., trust in institutions, trust in sources of information, perceptual trust, and interpersonal trust) between conspiracy mentality and paranoid beliefs. We tested this association in a large representative multinational sample (United Kingdom n = 2025; Spain n = 1951; and Ireland n = 1041). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor model of conspiracy and paranoid beliefs in each nation sample. Path and equality of constraints analysis revealed that paranoia was more strongly associated with perceptual mistrust (bias towards mistrusting unfamiliar faces) whereas conspiracy was more strongly associated with mistrust in political institutions. Although interpersonal mistrust and trust in social sources of information were associated significantly with conspiracy their association with paranoid beliefs was stronger. These findings clarify the role of different trust processes in both belief systems. Limitations of this study are discussed.

[Conspiracy theories and COVID-19: How do conspiracy beliefs arise?]

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has caused an unprecedented global crisis, and a proliferation of conspiracy theories. These conspiratorial beliefs has contributed to weakening the credibility of government public health measures, limiting citizens' access to reliable sources of information, and disrupting the response of health systems to the crisis. Several hypotheses have been proposed in psychology and social science to understand the genesis of these beliefs during a pandemic, including generational, socio-cultural and political characteristics of individuals, and psychological factors such as the desire to preserve one's safety, to maintain a positive self-image, or even to strengthen its social role. However, recent discoveries in cognitive science about belief updating mechanisms offer new insights into the generation of conspiratorial beliefs across time and culture. In this paper, we offer a definition of conspiracy theory and a classification of conspiracy beliefs during the COVID-19 pandemic. We show how the mechanisms of belief updating may explain the genesis of conspiracy theories, and we propose several hypotheses supported by contemporary research in cognitive and social science.

Lockdown support, trust and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: Insights from the second national lockdown in France

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictive sanitary measures such as lockdowns have been implemented all around the world. Based on a representative sample of the population collected through an online cross-sectional survey, the goal of the study was to investigate the factors associated with lockdown agreement in France during the second general lockdown of fall 2020. More specifically, we aimed to investigate how trust in the government and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs influenced lockdown agreement. Trust in the authorities and low adherence to conspiracy beliefs appeared as strong predictors of lockdown acceptance among our sample. Using a mediation analysis, we highlighted a significant indirect effect of trust in the authorities on lockdown agreement through the adherence to conspiracy beliefs: low level of trust translated into higher odds to believe in COVID-19 misinformation which in turn decreased lockdown support. The double effect of trust on lockdown agreement, both directly and indirectly, underlines the importance of careful communication from the government around decisions related to COVID-19 mitigation measures in order not to deteriorate even more the low level of trust in the health action of the government. The fight against false information also appears of the utmost importance to increase the population adherence to public authorities’ recommendations.

Searching for New Human Behavior Model in Explaining Energy Transition: Exploring the Impact of Value and Perception Factors on Inconsistency of Attitude toward Policy Support and Intention to Pay for Energy Transition

The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the factors influencing the public's attitude toward policy support and intention to pay for energy transition from nuclear to renewable energy. We focus on inconsistency issues between attitude and intention. To this end, we set the attitude toward policy support and behavioral intention to pay as dependent variables, and value factors (i.e., ideology, political support for the current Moon Jae-in government, environmentalism, and science-technology optimism) and perception factors (i.e., perceived risk, benefit, knowledge, and trust) as the independent variables. Based on a survey, the analysis showed that at the variable level, the perceived benefits and trust in renewable energy and perceived risks and benefits in nuclear energy influenced the attitude toward policy support and the intention to pay for energy transition. Second, when evaluating the explanatory power of independent variables, the attitude toward the energy transition was affected in the following order: (1) perceived benefit in nuclear power (β = 0.259) > (2) perceived benefit in renewable energy (β = -0.219) > (3) perceived risk in nuclear energy (β = 0.202) > (4) Moon Jae-in government support (β = 0.146). On the other hand, behavioral intention to pay for energy transition was influenced in the following order: (1) trust in renewable energy (β = 0.252) > (2) Moon Jae-in government support (β = 0.154) > (3) perceived risk in nuclear energy (β = 0.139) > (4) perceived benefit in renewable energy (β = 0.099). Third, variables such as environmentalism, perceived benefit/risk/trust in renewable energy, and perceived benefit/risk in nuclear energy affected inconsistency between attitude toward policy support and intention to pay for energy transition.

Similar Attitudes, Different Strategies: A Limited Survey of the Discourse Strategies to Oppose Genetically Modified Organisms Conspiracy Theories by Chinese Scientist Communicators and Citizen Communicators on Zhihu

The development of the digital media environment has led to a diversification in the role of science communicators. Both scientists and non-scientist citizens can act as science communicators in relation to online discussion of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Through a limited study, based on thematic and open coding of 60 answers provided by scientist science communicators and citizen science communicators on GMOs on Zhihu, the biggest Chinese knowledge sharing network, it has been found that "business conspiracy theories" about GMOs are the most mentioned and discussed theories, followed by the conspiracy theory of "GMOs as state control tool" on Zhihu. Both citizen science communicators and scientist science communicators are inclined to show oppositional attitudes to GMOs conspiracy theories on Zhihu, despite the differences in their scientific backgrounds; however, they use very different discourse strategies. Citizen science communicators tend to use "lay logic" with more rhetoric, while scientist science communicators tend to use direct scientific knowledge and logic with less rhetoric.

Reflective thinking predicts lower conspiracy beliefs: A meta-analysis

One of the many established predictors of conspiracy beliefs is reflective thinking, but no meta-analysis so far has examined this relationship. In the current meta-analysis of published and unpublished correlational data (145 samples, 181 effect sizes), we found a significant negative association between reflective thinking and conspiracy beliefs with a medium-level effect size (r = –.189) . Similar levels of correlations were found across different types of measures (self-report vs. performance-based) and conspiracy beliefs (generic vs. specific). Further, no evidence suggested publication bias in this body of work. Suggestions for future research are discussed.

Rise of Conspiracy Theories in the Pandemic Times

COVID-19 pandemic occurred as an unexpected experience affecting all countries around the globe. In addition to the obvious health, economic and political effects, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered immense changes in the social spheres. People and institutions were forced to adjust to the new circumstances, change habits and move most or all of their activity online. In the completely virtual world, pandemic became a fertile ground for the bloom of the conspiracy theories already existing, but struggling for the global attention. The aim of the paper is to present three main conspiracy theories rapidly gaining popularity during the pandemic (the QAnon, anti-vaccination movements and anti-5G movements) and to analyse how they developed since the pandemic had been announced. In particular, the rising activity of the representatives of the movements will be analysed, as well as its acceleration in connection with pandemic and the resulting influence on social and political life. Finally, the paper will try examine whether the rapid development of conspiracy theories within societies has had any relations to the level of trust towards government-made decisions. The thesis being verified hereto is that pandemic accelerated the development of conspiracy theories due to the diminishing level of trust towards governments operating in the most difficult period in recent history. There are variety of reasons for the belief in conspiracy theories and they depend on the specificity of the theory and specificity of group of people it originates from. In general, it can be noted that all kind of conspiracies are developed by either (1) people who actually believe in them and are sharing them with good intentions (to warn other about the dangers hidden behind certain actions or institutions) or (2) malignant individuals whose aim is to discord or discredit an opponent or critic or, alternatively, distract attention from misconduct or lack of competence.

Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: A systematic review

RATIONALE

Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories can have severe consequences; it is therefore crucial to understand this phenomenon, in its similarities with general conspiracy belief, but also in how it is context-dependent.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this systematic review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the available research on COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and to synthesise this research to make it widely accessible.

METHODS

We present a synthesis of COVID-19 conspiracy belief research from 85 international articles, identified and appraised through a systematic review, in line with contemporary protocols and guidelines for systematic reviews.

RESULTS

We identify a number of potential antecedents of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs (individual differences, personality traits, demographic variables, attitudes, thinking styles and biases, group identity, trust in authorities, and social media use), their consequences (protective behaviours, self-centred and misguided behaviours such as hoarding and pseudoscientific health practices, vaccination intentions, psychological wellbeing, and other negative social consequences such as discrimination and violence), and the effect sizes of their relations with the conspiracy beliefs.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that understanding both the potential antecedents and consequences of conspiracy beliefs and how they are context-dependent is highly important to tackle them, whether in the COVID-19 pandemic or future threats, such as that of climate change.

What Breeds Conspiracy Theories in COVID-19? The Role of Risk Perception in the Belief in COVID-19 Conspiracy

Conspiracy theories often emerge during public health crises, and can provide some explanation for the causes behind the crises. However, the prevalence of conspiracy theories also poses a serious threat to public health order and hinders the implementation of disease prevention and control measures. No studies have examined the role of multiple risk perceptions in the formation of beliefs in conspiracy theories from a cognitive perspective in the context of the epidemic. In this cross-sectional study, participants filled in an online survey in order to investigate the relationship between epidemic severity and beliefs in conspiracy theories and the mediating role of risk perception in this relationship. The results showed that COVID-19 epidemic severity positively predicted beliefs in both in- and out-group conspiracy theories. Risk perception mediated the positive relationship between COVID-19 epidemic severity and belief in in-group conspiracy theories. These results suggest that in a major public health crisis event: (1) residents at the epicenter may be more prone to believing in both in- and out-group conspiracy theories; and (2) beliefs in in- and out-group conspiracy theories may have different psychological mechanisms. Therefore, conspiracy theories about public health incidents, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, should be classified and treated by policy stakeholders.

Public Opinion on European Health Policy, Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Often, global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, bring to light crucial weaknesses in political, economic, social and health systems. First, there are governments who formulate and implement policies and, second, there are the citizens who support them, thus contributing a great deal to their success. Our paper investigates the European citizens' opinion on health policy, focusing on their preference for European health policy during the coronavirus pandemic. The paper uses bibliometric analysis, descriptive statistics, and logistic regression to discuss the public opinion on health policy, the factors of influence, the change in perspectives between 2020 and 2021, and the socio-demographic profile of those favorable for the development of a European health policy in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Our findings show that citizens from southern and central European countries are more likely to prioritize the development of a European health policy, as compared to Nordic countries. Between 2020 and 2021, pro-European health policy citizens profile changes and becomes clearer, from pensioners to young working age males with medium education. In general, people prioritizing a European health policy value health as the most important issue at a national level are generally satisfied with the European Union and do not trust their national government.

The relation between conspiracism, government trust, and COVID-19 vaccination intentions: The key role of motivation

Rationale

Vaccination willingness is a critical step in the effort to reach herd immunity and control the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, many people remain reluctant to be vaccinated.

Objective

Integrating the literature on Self-Determination Theory, trust in authorities, and conspiracy theories, this research examines (a) the direct and indirect effect of government trust and conspiracism via underlying forms of motivations for (not) getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and (b) whether these associations differ across the two largely politically independent Belgian linguistic groups.

Methods

Using Structural Equation Modeling, we tested our models in two independent samples, in February 2021 (T1) and April 2021 (T2) (Total N = 8264).

Results

At T1 and T2, Government trust and conspiracism both predict COVID-19 vaccination intention, respectively positively and negatively. These relations are fully mediated by motivational factors, with identified motivations having a larger positive contribution. Looking at linguistic context, differences emerge at T2, with French-speaking Belgians showing lower levels of government trust and higher levels of conspiracism than Dutch speakers.

Conclusions

Results highlight the importance of integrating distal (trust in government, conspiracism) and proximal (motivational) variables to understand vaccination intentions.

Public Policy Measures to Increase Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Rate in Russia

The total vaccination rate remains relatively low in Russia as of March 2022 (around 55%, with around 20% in some regions). In the paper, we study the reasons for it. We communicate the results of our survey aimed at detecting reasons for the relatively low anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination rate in Russia (47.1% as of mid-January 2022) and suggest potential measures to increase the level of confidence in the Russian vaccination campaign. A total of 14,310 users exhibited interest to participate in the research (16.84% of the total number of invitations sent in the Russian social network VKontakte). After the sample set repair, only 5822 (40.68% of those who agreed to participate) responses were suitable for the research, and they composed the final set. The age range of the respondents was 16-51 years old (y.o.) with a mean of 29.1 ± 10.6 y.o. The proportion of the female gender in responses was 44.23%. A total of 2454 persons (42.15%) expressed their hesitant, cautious, or negative attitude towards vaccine uptake. Of the 2454 persons with cautious attitude towards vaccination, only 928 (37.82%) were concerned about the quality of the Russian vaccines. A total of 1323 individuals (53.91%) supported one or more conspiracy beliefs. A total of 5064 (86.98% of the whole set) showed cautious or negative attitude towards the planned introduction of a nationwide system of vaccination certification/verification based on QR codes. The main social factors that hinder the Russian vaccination campaign are: vexation over the lack of desire of officials to receive feedback from the general population regarding vaccination, wide support for conspiracy beliefs, and controversy over the QR code-based digital system. To elevate the vaccination rate in Russia, the following steps may be taken: social encouragement of those who support vaccination, increase in transparency of the vaccination campaign, acceptance of both digital and paper vaccination certificates, increase in participation of society in vaccination-related discussions, public disclosure of vaccine composition, and avoidance of excessive digitalization of data in the vaccination campaign.

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

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.

Envisioning Complex Futures: Collective Narratives and Reasoning in Deliberations over Gene Editing in the Wild

The development of technologies for gene editing in the wild has the potential to generate tremendous benefit, but also raises important concerns. Using some form of public deliberation to inform decisions about the use of these technologies is appealing, but public deliberation about them will tend to fall back on various forms of heuristics to account for limited personal experience with these technologies. Deliberations are likely to involve narrative reasoning-or reasoning embedded within stories. These are used to help people discuss risks, processes, and fears that are otherwise difficult to convey. In this article, we identify three forms of collective narrative that are particularly relevant to debates about modifying genes in the wild. Our purpose is not to privilege any particular narrative, but to encourage people involved in deliberations to make these narratives transparent. Doing so can help guard against the way some narratives-referred to here as "crafted narratives"-may be manipulated by powerful elites and concentrated economic interests for their own strategic ends.

The Relationship Between Pre-pandemic Measures of Religiosity and Psychological Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Secondary Analysis of Data From a Multi-Country Study

Background

The uncertainty and socioeconomic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have been frequently associated with negative affective responses, particularly depression and anxiety. People from countries across the globe have frequently resorted to religious coping to deal with these emotions. However, there are conflicting results in the literature about the impact of prior patterns of religious belief and practice on emotional responses to COVID-19.

Methods

In this cross-sectional, country-level study, the association between pre-pandemic measures of religious affiliation and practice, obtained from prior survey data and self-reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress across 29 countries from a recent multi-country study, were examined while correcting for potential confounders.

Results

There was a trend towards a positive association between pre-pandemic religious belief and practice and anxiety in response to the pandemic (r = .36, p = .057), but this was not significant on multivariate analysis (β = .08, p = .691). Cultural individualism and urbanization were negatively associated with anxiety during the pandemic. There was also preliminary evidence of a non-linear relationship between religiosity and pandemic-related anxiety.

Conclusions

The relationship between religiosity and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely to be a direct one and can be influenced by demographic and cultural factors.

Examining conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 in four countries: The role of disgust towards the political system and implications for prosocial behavior

Since late 2019, the coronavirus SARS-COV-2 responsible for the COVID-19 disease has continued to spread across different regions of the world. As a result, governments have been implementing measures for controlling the disease which rely on people's cooperation. In this research, we considered predictors and implications of people's beliefs that they “haven’t been told the ‘whole story’ about COVID-19.” Specifically, we examined the role of disgust towards the political system in predicting conspiratorial tendencies across four countries, in Europe (Italy and the UK), North America (the USA), and Asia (South Korea). In addition, we investigated the implications of conspiratorial beliefs for individuals’ intentions to engage in prosocial cooperative behavior. In line with the idea that feelings of disgust towards the political system may indicate that people perceive the system as violating core norms, results showed that disgust was associated with stronger conspiratorial tendencies. Individuals’ conspiratorial tendencies were in turn associated with lower intentions to help others during the pandemic. Results were broadly consistent across the countries tested. Directions for future research are discussed.

Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories about the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania? An Analysis of Conspiracy Theories Believers’ Profiles

The current COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by the circulation of an unprecedented amount of “polluted” information, especially in the social media environment, among which are false narratives and conspiracy theories about both the pandemic and vaccination against COVID-19. The effects of such questionable information primarily concern the lack of compliance with restrictive measures and a negative attitude towards vaccination campaigns, as well as more complex social effects, such as street protests or distrust in governments and authorities in general. Even though there is a lot of scholarly attention given to these narratives in many countries, research about the profile of people who are more prone to believe or spread them is rather scarce. In this context, we investigate the role of age, compared with other socio-demographic factors (such as education and religiosity), as well as the role of the media (the frequency of news consumption, the perceived usefulness of social media, and the perceived incidence of fake information about the virus in the media) and the critical thinking disposition of people who tend to believe such misleading narratives. To address these issues, we conducted a national survey (N = 945) in April 2021 in Romania. Using a hierarchical OLS regression model, we found that people who perceive higher incidence of fake news (ß = 0.33, p < 0.001), find social media platforms more useful (ß = 0.13, p < 0.001), have lower education (ß = −0.17, p < 0.001), and have higher levels of religiosity (ß = 0.08, p < 0.05) are more prone to believe COVID-19-related misleading narratives. At the same time, the frequency of news consumption (regardless of the type of media), critical thinking disposition, and age do not play a significant role in the profile of the believer in conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic. Somewhat surprisingly, age does not play a role in predicting belief in conspiracy theories, even though there are studies that suggest that older people are more prone to believe conspiracy narratives. As far as media is concerned, the frequency of news media consumption does not significantly differ for believers and non-believers. We discuss these results within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Paradox of Conspiracy Theory: The Positive Impact of Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories on Preventive Actions and Vaccination Intentions during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aims to analyze the direct and indirect impact of beliefs in conspiracy theories on COVID-19-related preventive actions and vaccination intentions. The dominant theory in the literature is that beliefs in conspiracy theories have negative consequences. In particular, strong beliefs in conspiracy theories lower people’s intentions to engage in preventive actions and get vaccinated. Previous studies indicated that this dominant theory applies in Korea as well. However, we find that this dominant theory does not apply in Korea. Based on an analysis of survey data, we find that beliefs in conspiracy theories have positive impact on preventive actions and vaccination intentions. In addition, beliefs in conspiracy theories play indirect roles in these two responses to COVID-19. Specifically, when perceived benefits and trust in the government or science enhance preventive actions or increase vaccination intentions, strong beliefs in conspiracy theories promote this effect. This positive role of conspiracy theories is paradoxical because they are generally viewed as negative.

Vaccine Refusal in the Czech Republic Is Associated with Being Spiritual but Not Religiously Affiliated

A strong reduction in the deleterious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic can be achieved by vaccination. Religiosity and spirituality (R/S) may play an important role in vaccine acceptance. However, evidence is lacking for the associations with religious conspiracy theories (RCT) in a non-religious environment. This study investigated the associations between R/S and RCT about COVID-19 vaccination and the links of R/S with vaccine refusal and hesitancy. A sample of Czech adults (n = 459) participated in the survey. We measured R/S, RCT, religious fundamentalism, and COVID-19 vaccination intentions. We found spirituality to be significantly associated with RCT belief, with odds ratios (OR) of 2.12 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.42–3.19). A combination of R/S groups revealed that spirituality with non-religious affiliation was associated with higher beliefs in RCT, with ORs from 3.51 to 7.17. Moreover, associations were found between spirituality with non-religious affiliation [OR 2.22(1.33–7.76)] with vaccine refusal. Our findings showed associations of spirituality and religious fundamentalism with RCT about COVID-19 vaccination. Furthermore, spirituality was linked to a higher possibility of vaccine refusal. Understanding these associations may help prevent the development of RCT and negative impact of spirituality on vaccine intentions and contribute to the effectiveness of the vaccination process.

Irrational Beliefs about COVID-19: A Scoping Review

Since the emergence of the recent Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) and its spread as a pandemic, there has been a parallel spread of false and misleading information, known as an infodemic. The COVID-19 infodemic has induced distrust in scientific communities, governments, institutions and the population, and a confidence crisis that has led to harmful health behaviours, also impacting on mental health. The aim of this study is to provide a scoping review of the scientific literature about COVID-19-related misinformation and conspiracy theories, focusing on the construction of a conceptual framework which is useful for the interpretation of the conspiracy theory phenomenon surrounding COVID-19, and its consequences. Particular socio-environmental conditions (i.e., low educational level, younger age), psychological processes and attitudes (such as low levels of epistemic trust, the avoidance of uncertainty, extraversion, collective narcissism, and a conspiracy-prone mindset), and contextual factors (e.g., high levels of self-perceived risk and anxiety) seem to underpin the adherence to beliefs that are not solely the domain of paranoids and extremists but a widespread phenomenon that has caused important health, social and political consequences.

Overview of behavioural and psychological consequences of COVID 19

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The paper aims to provide an overview of the psychological and behavioural impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on variations in behavioural response in different geographical areas due to the existence of different social-cultural contexts.

RECENT FINDINGS

Whilst anxiety, depression and economic stressors are common findings worldwide, specific behavioural responses are heavily influenced by government stances, misinformation, conspiratorialism and competing demands of resource scarcity. This has led to very different understandings of the pandemic even in geographically close areas, and more so when comparing disparate regions such as Africa, South America and Europe. The paper also comments on the absence of robust evidence regarding increases of suicidality and violence on a global level, whilst noting evidence certainly exists in specific regions.

SUMMARY

The psychological and behavioural impact of COVID is heavily influenced by the local lens. Beyond a very broad brush approaches, expected behaviours from one area cannot easily be extrapolated to others. Where possible, clinicians should be guided by local data, ideally placing expectations of responses in a cultural context.

SARS-CoV-2 Threat Perception and Willingness to Vaccinate: The Mediating Role of Conspiracy Beliefs

In the current exploratory study, we investigated the willingness of participants to vaccinate against the novel coronavirus [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)] that has shaken up the world since the beginning of 2020. More specifically, we tested the mediating role of conspiracy beliefs (CBs) on the relationship between threat perception (TP) and willingness of participants to vaccinate against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), along with a series of associated demographic variables. Overall, 40% of our sample expressed total rejection of the COVID-19 vaccine. Our results suggested no significant differences in gender, age, educational level, and vaccine acceptance or hesitancy of participants. The results also indicated that CBs partially mediated the relationship between TP and willingness of participants to vaccinate. The current findings are discussed within the theory of planned behavior (TPB) framework and their importance for public health communication and practices and building public trust within the global fight against COVID-19. We considered the present results as a valuable starting point in understanding the psychological constructs related to the extended model of TPB and other personal factors and addressed the attitudinal roots that shape the acceptance and rejection of COVID-19 vaccination.

Factors Related to COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors: A Structural Equation Model

Background: While COVID-19 has rapidly spread around the world, and vaccines are not widely available to the general population, the World Health Organization outlines preventive behavior as the most effective way to limit the rapid spread of the virus. Preventive behavior is associated with a number of factors that both encourage and discourage prevention. Aim: The aim of this research was to study COVID-19 threat appraisal, fear of COVID-19, trust in COVID-19 information sources, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and the relationship of socio-demographic variables (gender, age, level of education, place of residence, and employment status) to COVID-19 preventive behavior. Methods: The data originate from a national cross-sectional online survey (N = 2,608) undertaken in July 2020. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results: COVID-19 threat appraisal, trust in COVID-19 information sources, and fear of COVID-19 are all significant predictors of COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Together they explain 26.7% of the variance of this variable. COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs significantly negatively predict COVID-19 threat appraisal (R 2 = 0.206) and trust in COVID-19 information sources (R 2 = 0.190). COVID-19 threat appraisal contributes significantly and directly to the explanation of the fear of COVID-19 (R 2 = 0.134). Directly, as well as mediated by COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, threat appraisal predicts trust in COVID-19 information sources (R 2 = 0.190). The relationship between COVID-19 threat appraisal and COVID-19 preventive behaviors is partially mediated by fear of COVID-19 (indirect effect 28.6%) and trust in information sources (15.8%). Socio-demographic variables add very little in prediction of COVID-19 preventive behavior. Conclusions: The study results demonstrate that COVID-19 threat appraisal is the most important factor associated with COVID-19 preventive behavior. Those Latvian residents with higher COVID-19 threat appraisal, experienced higher levels of fear of COVID-19, had more trust in COVID-19 information sources, and were more actively involved in following COVID-19 preventive behaviors. COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs negatively predict COVID-19 threat appraisal and trust in COVID-19 information sources, but not the COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Socio-demographic factors do not play an important role here.

Conspiracy beliefs and trust as determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in Bali, Indonesia: Cross-sectional study

Objective

This study aimed to investigate association between conspiracy beliefs, trusts in media and authoritative information sources, with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.

Methods

We conducted online survey on adult resident of Bali Province, Indonesia in September 14th to October 31st 2020 collecting data on demographics, impacts of the pandemic, conspiracy beliefs, trusts in conventional media and authoritative sources, as well as vaccine acceptance. We conducted bivariate and multivariate analysis for determinants of vaccine acceptance with SPSS 23.0.

Results

We recruited 779 respondents with 38.9% male and median age of 24 years old (IQR 20 – 26). The result showed vaccine acceptance of 60.8%. Vaccine acceptance was correlated with conspiracy beliefs, trusts in conventional media and authoritative sources with Spearman's rho of −0.350, 0.269, and 0.287 respectively. Controlling for demographics and impacts of pandemic, showed strong conspiracy beliefs and trust in conventional media as the only independent determinants with OR of 0.33 (CI95% 0.20–0.54) and 1.91 (CI95% 1.37–2.65) respectively.

Conclusion

The results indicated considerable impacts of infodemic, represented by conspiracy beliefs, trust in media, and in authoritative sources, toward COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Effective public health messaging should be conducted concurrent with vaccine rollout to improve acceptance and achieve herd immunity.

Dissociation, Cognitive Reflection and Health Literacy Have a Modest Effect on Belief in Conspiracy Theories about COVID-19

Understanding the predictors of belief in COVID-related conspiracy theories and willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 may aid the resolution of current and future pandemics. We investigate how psychological and cognitive characteristics influence general conspiracy mentality and COVID-related conspiracy theories. A cross-sectional study was conducted based on data from an online survey of a sample of Czech university students (n = 866) collected in January 2021, using multivariate linear regression and mediation analysis. Sixteen percent of respondents believed that COVID-19 is a hoax, and 17% believed that COVID-19 was intentionally created by humans. Seven percent of the variance of the hoax theory and 10% of the variance of the creation theory was explained by (in descending order of relevance) low cognitive reflection, low digital health literacy, high experience with dissociation and, to some extent, high bullshit receptivity. Belief in COVID-related conspiracy theories depended less on psychological and cognitive variables compared to conspiracy mentality (16% of the variance explained). The effect of digital health literacy on belief in COVID-related theories was moderated by cognitive reflection. Belief in conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 was influenced by experience with dissociation, cognitive reflection, digital health literacy and bullshit receptivity.

Searching for Evidence-Based Public Policy and Practice: Analysis of the Determinants of Personal/Public Adaptation and Mitigation Behavior against Particulate Matter by Focusing on the Roles of Risk Perception, Communication, and Attribution Factors

In recent years, awareness about the risk of particulate matter (PM) has increased both domestically and internationally; consequently, various policies have been implemented to reduce PM. Since citizens are both victim and cause of this risk, PM cannot be successfully decreased only through government policies. Therefore, citizens' active participation is required to reduce PM and prevent its risks. However, a theoretical model about public behavior against PM has not been established. Therefore, we suggest the public behavior model about individuals' response against PM, in which response actions are classified into four types based on the combinations of the public-personal domains and mitigation-adaptation actions: Personal or public adaptations, and personal or public mitigations. We analyze how risk perception, risk communication, blame attribution factors influence the four types of responses against PM. The analysis results reveal that the receiver's ability, negative emotion, trust in government, and age influence personal mitigation behavior, personal adaptation, public mitigation, and public adaptation, respectively. As this study demonstrates the differences in the factors influencing each type of response actions against PM, evidence-based policy is needed that considers the differences in these influencing factors.