Beliefs in conspiracy theories, intolerance of uncertainty, and moral disengagement during the coronavirus crisis

Across the COVID-19 Waves; Assessing Temporal Fluctuations in Perceived Stress, Post-Traumatic Symptoms, Worry, Anxiety and Civic Moral Disengagement over One Year of Pandemic

“…Although in March 2020, August 2020, and March 2021, it showed significant relationships with state anxiety and post-traumatic stress, as well as sometimes with worry (August 2020) and perceived stress (March 2020 and August 2020), no significant associations were found in November 2020, when the highest CMDs scores were recorded (see Table 3 ). Since it was also associated to intolerance of uncertainty in previous research [ 12 ], these data could indicate that civic moral disengagement may be seen as a mechanism activated in association with a state of fatigue, uncertainty, and discomfort due to new peaks of contagion (see Figure 1 ) [ 29 ] and the consequent restrictions and limitations imposed in that phase. However, it did not appear to be in itself sufficient to contrast the levels of malaise given that no negative relationship with the other psychological outcomes were found in its peak phase.…”

“…The understanding of the long-term psychological outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic may give an important key in fostering effective management of mental health consequences both during the emergency and when it is over, also considering gender differences. More specifically, these results highlight the importance of interventions to prevent post-traumatic symptoms by acting early, since they seem to be related to the disorientation of the first phases; favor the development of the ability to contain and cope with stress, worry, and state anxiety, which appeared to be the most persistent elements during the crisis; monitor the increases in civic moral disengagement, which seemed to be related to a state of fatigue and uncertainty and, as demonstrated by previous research [ 12 ], can be associated with lower conformity to some rules and restrictions. Therefore, this study may contribute to provide useful data to tailor interventions in clinical practice for both the present health crisis and future emergencies as well as underline the need for future research of further trend analysis of psychological outcomes during the next phases of pandemic.…”

“…Furthermore, higher tendencies of distorting consequences and comparing own behavior with worse ones (advantageous comparison) were found in March 2021 than in the first phases of the pandemic (March 2020). Since higher levels of moral disengagement have been associated with lower conformity to some rules and restrictions aimed at protecting physical health during the COVID-19 emergency [ 12 ], such findings appear particularly relevant. These mechanisms, in fact, allow the avoidance of assuming full responsibility for one’s actions while being able to recognize one’s moral obligations and distinguish what is right from what is wrong [ 45 ]; it is clear, therefore, how this can have high social and personal costs in times of a pandemic given the importance of adhering to preventive measures to manage the virus spread.…”

“…Restrictions to contain the virus, economic instability, risk of contagion, uncertainty about the future, unpredictability of the virus spread, and the growing emergence of its variants may cause significant and lasting effects on mental health [ 6 ]. Some cross-sectional studies have already shown the emotional impact of the lockdown and the early stages of the pandemic, highlighting high levels of distress [ 7 , 8 ], post-traumatic symptoms [ 7 , 9 ], worry [ 10 , 11 ], and anxiety [ 7 , 11 ], underlining the strong link between compliance with restrictions and moral disengagement [ 12 ], and noting the differences in the effects on mental health according to gender [ 13 , 14 ]. One year after the outbreak, with the in-place vaccination campaign, maintenance of preventive measures, and alternation of localized closure phases, it could be important to monitor the progress of the psychological effects of the health emergency in order to promote adequate and targeted implementation of supportive and therapeutic interventions [ 15 ].…”

Conspiratorial Thinking During COVID-19: The Roles of Paranoia, Delusion-Proneness, and Intolerance of Uncertainty

“…The naturally-occurring state of heightened uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic may produce an analogous modulation. So far, no study has directly tested the relationship between IU and COVID-19 CT, though evidence has begun to emerge for a relationship between IU and generic CT during the pandemic (18,19). Furthermore, younger adults not only endorse greater COVID-19-related CT (8,20) but also report higher levels of IU during the COVID-19 pandemic (21), underscoring the importance of examining their relationship in this demographic.…”