Conspiracy Beliefs, Rejection of Vaccination, and Support for hydroxychloroquine: A Conceptual Replication-Extension in the COVID-19 Pandemic Context

Bertin, Paul; Nera, Kenzo; Delouvée, Sylvain

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.565128

Cited by 282 publications

(306 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Similarly, low levels of education are frequently associated with belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories 9,15,27,28 . Rather than following analytical reasoning, people believing in conspiracy theories seem to more follow their intuitions, as they are more likely to infer relationships between unrelated phenomena 13 and to endorse epistemically suspect beliefs 5,7,18,19,28,52,61 , while conspiracy belief is lower for those who engage in flexible and critical thinking and who question their own ideas 10,70 . In line with described cognitive preferences, knowledge associated with COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs has generally been gleaned from social media rather than more scientifically supported, institutional websites 5,6,15,22,103,106 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this section, these beliefs, reasoning processes, and attitudes will be reviewed with regards to belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories. 19 , popular generic conspiracy theories and motives 5,28 , claims about the effectiveness of pseudoscientific remedies for COVID-19 7 and other serious illnesses 61 , pseudoscientific attitudes toward vaccination 18 , and even paranormal phenomena, such as belief in ghosts, the magical powers of the moon or the Bermuda triangle 52 . Similarly, individuals who infer relationships between unrelated phenomena (such as measured by illusory correlations and base-rate neglect) were more likely to believe in COVID-19 conspiracy theories 13 .…”

Section: Beliefs Biases and Attitudesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear that SARS-CoV-2 will stay with us for a long time, starting a race to develop a vaccine. Vaccine hesitancy has consistently been linked to COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs 5,12,13,18,112 . This may undermine the potential for herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2 123 , as about 67% of the population will need to either overcome the disease or be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity 124 .…”

Section: Protective Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This may undermine the potential for herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2 123 , as about 67% of the population will need to either overcome the disease or be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity 124 . In addition to being associated with higher intuitive and biased thinking 13,125 , and lower analytic and scientific thinking 61 and epistemically suspect beliefs in general 13,18,61,112 . Higher intentions to get vaccinated have also been predicted by worry 130,131 , and concern about, or how threatening the disease is considered to be 132 , but this effect may be interrupted by belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories: Perceived threat and helplessness can increase belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, which can, in turn, decrease the intentions to get vaccinated 52 .…”

Section: Protective Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, adherence to these guidelines appears to be negatively influenced by COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] , endangering the lives of many. In addition, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs have been linked to other problematic attitudes, such as prejudice [14][15][16][17] and reduced vaccination intentions 12,18 . It is, therefore, both highly important and timely to understand why COVID-19 conspiracy theories arise and gain supporters (antecedents), as well as what the potential effects of such beliefs are (consequences).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Mulukom¹,

Pummerer²,

Alper³

et al. 2020

Preprint

100

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COVID-19 conspiracy theories emerged almost immediately after the beginning of the pandemic, and the number of believers does not appear to decline. Believing in these theories can negatively affect adherence to safety guidelines and vaccination intentions, potentially endangering the lives of many. Thus, one part in successfully fighting the pandemic is to understand the antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, which are here presented in a rapid review summarizing research from more than 28 countries. We evaluate the contribution of individual difference variables (demographic variables, personality traits, coping with threat and uncertainty), beliefs, biases, and attitudes (epistemically suspect beliefs, thinking styles and cognitive biases, attitudes towards science), and social factors (group identities, trust in authorities, social media) to COVID-19 conspiracy theories. We discuss the consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs in regard to safeguarding behaviours (hygiene, distancing, and mask-wearing), self-centred (hoarding) and misguided behaviours (pseudoscientific practices), vaccination intentions, mental health and negative social consequences (e.g., discrimination and violence). Differences between countries as well as various conspiracy theories are considered. Summarising, we suggest that belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories is boosted by low levels of trust in a context of threat and low levels of comprehensive, accessible information in a context of uncertainty and unknowns. We conclude that research is urgently needed to address potential interventions to (re-)establish trust and provide accessible information about COVID-19.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Beliefs Biases and Attitudesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Protective Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Protective Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

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

Mulukom¹,

Pummerer²,

Alper³

et al. 2020

Preprint

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

The effectiveness of a scientific reasoning intervention for conspiracy theory beliefs

Georgiou

Delfabbro

Balzan

2023

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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Conspiracy theory (CT) beliefs have become an important policy‐relevant research area since the events of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Increasing interest has been directed towards strategies that might reduce people's susceptibility to conspiratorial beliefs. In this study, we examined whether encouraging a stronger orientation towards critical scientific appraisal of conspiratorial accounts could reduce CT acceptance. After completing baseline measures of COVID‐19 related beliefs and analytical and scientific reasoning abilities, a total of 700 adults were randomly allocated to a control or scientific reasoning manipulation. People assigned to the scientific reasoning condition were found to display significantly lower CT belief endorsement post‐intervention as compared to the control group. As well as having implications for the design of future intervention studies, the results of this study encourage a greater focus on specific reasoning skills that may be amenable to a psychoeducation approach, in order to further develop methods to prevent CT beliefs.

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Are COVID‐19 conspiracies a threat to public health? Psychological characteristics and health protective behaviours of believers

Juanchich

Sirota

Jolles

et al. 2021

Euro J Social Psych

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We tested the link between COVID‐19 conspiracy theories and health protective behaviours in three studies: one at the onset of the pandemic in the United Kingdom (UK), a second just before the first national lockdown, and a third during that lockdown ( N = 302, 404 and 399). We focused on conspiracy theories that did not deny the existence of COVID‐19 and evaluated the extent to which they predicted a range of health protective behaviours, before and after controlling for psychological and sociodemographic characteristics associated with conspiracy theory belief. COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs were positively correlated with beliefs in other unrelated conspiracies and a general conspiracy mind‐set, and negatively correlated with trust in government and a tendency towards analytical thinking (vs. intuitive thinking). Unexpectedly, COVID‐19 conspiracy believers adhered to basic health guidelines and advanced health protective measures as strictly as non‐believers. Conspiracy believers were, however, less willing to install the contact‐tracing app, get tested for and vaccinated against COVID‐19, and were more likely to share COVID‐19 misinformation – all of which might undermine public health initiatives. Study 3 showed conspiracy theory believers were less willing to undertake health protective behaviours that were outside of their personal control, perceiving these as having a negative balance of risks and benefits. We discuss models explaining conspiracy beliefs and health protective behaviours, and suggest practical recommendations for public health initiatives. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

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Conspiracy Beliefs, Rejection of Vaccination, and Support for hydroxychloroquine: A Conceptual Replication-Extension in the COVID-19 Pandemic Context

Cited by 282 publications

References 38 publications

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

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

The effectiveness of a scientific reasoning intervention for conspiracy theory beliefs

Are COVID‐19 conspiracies a threat to public health? Psychological characteristics and health protective behaviours of believers

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