COVID-19 Conspiracies, Trust in Authorities, and Duty to Comply with Social Distancing Restrictions

Abstract

In 2020 governments worldwide implemented various laws and social distancing restrictions to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. At the same time, conspiracy theories emerged purporting that authorities were using the COVID-19 pandemic to permanently control or harm citizens. These conspiracies undermined government responses to the pandemic and in some cases elicited civil disobedience. Using survey data from 779 Australians collected eight months into the pandemic, we examined the relationship between conspiracy beliefs, trust in the government, and duty to comply with authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also examined whether trust in government moderated the association between conspiracy beliefs and duty to comply. We found that those prone to conspiracy theory beliefs and who distrusted government were less likely to comply with authorities during the pandemic. We also found that trust in the government moderated the negative relationship between conspiracy beliefs and duty to comply; high trust served as a protective factor against conspiracy beliefs. Importantly, we found that how government actions were experienced and perceived during the pandemic were important correlates of Australians’ level of trust in the government. Our findings point to the importance of governments maintaining high trust in their efficacy and approach during a crisis.

The role of bounded-authority concerns in shaping citizens' duty to obey authorities during COVID-19

“…This belief may be reinforced when clear messaging stipulating a realistic end-date to imposed restrictions is lacking. Studies show that worry about freedom loss is associated with a lower likelihood to comply with COVID-19 restrictions (Murphy et al , 2020a) and increased defiance toward authorities (McCarthy et al , 2021). As the duty to obey authorities is a key antecedent to compliance generally (Tyler, 2006) and in the COVID-19 context (e.g.…”

Examining the relationship between conspiracy theories and COVID‐19 vaccine hesitancy: A mediating role for perceived health threats, trust, and anomie?

“…An alternative or complimentary focus for countering the impacts of conspiracy beliefs on vaccination uptake, therefore, could be to focus on building public trust in government. In fact, recent research suggests that governments that operate in ways that seek to build trust may be able to counter the impacts of COVID‐19 conspiracy theory beliefs (Murphy, McCarthy et al., 2021). If government actions and decisions are perceived to be fair, effective, transparent, and commensurate with risk, they may be able to build trust with harder to reach population groups, such as those prone to believing in conspiracy theories (Murphy, McCarthy et al., 2021).…”

“…In fact, recent research suggests that governments that operate in ways that seek to build trust may be able to counter the impacts of COVID‐19 conspiracy theory beliefs (Murphy, McCarthy et al., 2021). If government actions and decisions are perceived to be fair, effective, transparent, and commensurate with risk, they may be able to build trust with harder to reach population groups, such as those prone to believing in conspiracy theories (Murphy, McCarthy et al., 2021). This would be a valuable investment for governments during periods of significant societal disruption (such as the COVID‐19 pandemic), as they continue to rely on a wellspring of public trust in order to facilitate compliance with a range of changing restrictions.…”

“…A response rate of 38.9% was calculated, when the final useable sample was considered against the initial 2004 clicks on the Facebook survey advertisement (see Murphy, Williamson et al, 2021 for further information on the survey methodology). The following section outlines the measures used in this paper.…”

“…The following section outlines the measures used in this paper. Additional items contained in the survey but not used here can be found in Murphy, Williamson et al (2021).…”