Exploring COVID-19 conspiracy theories: education, religiosity, trust in scientists, and political orientation in 26 European countries

Abstract

The COVID-19 virus disseminated globally at an accelerated pace, culminating in a worldwide pandemic; it engendered a proliferation of spurious information and a plethora of misinformation and conspiracy theories (CTs). While many factors contributing to the propensity for embracing conspiracy ideation have been delineated, the foremost determinant influencing individuals’ proclivity towards CT endorsement appears to be their level of educational attainment. This research aimed to assess the moderating effect of religiosity, trust in scientists, and political orientation on the impact of education level on people’s belief in COVID-19-related CTs in Europe by considering both individual-level and country-level contextual covariates of CT. We analysed data from the newest European Social Survey (ESS10) round conducted between September 2020 and September 2022 in 26 countries. We found religiosity weakens, and trust in scientists strengthens the effect of education, while the impact of political orientation is not straightforward. The result also demonstrates a significant negative correlation between the aggregate country-level data of the respondents supporting CTs and the level of vaccination and cumulative excess deaths in Europe. We concluded with a recommendation that planning effective public health strategies and campaigns are insufficient when based solely on people’s education, as individuals’ beliefs moderate the effect of education.

Investigating Beliefs in Anti-Vax Conspiracy Theories among Medical Students

“…While there is a common notion that individuals endorsing anti-vaccine conspiracy theories are typically less educated, religious, right-wing, or associated with minority groups, it is noteworthy that proponents of such theories come from various social and political backgrounds. Polish research, akin to studies from other countries, has highlighted the link between vaccine hesitancy and the influence of right-wing political ideologies opposing vaccination in diverse forms [29,30,[79][80][81][82][83], as well as religious beliefs [30,84]. The effect size of these findings is substantial and warrants significant consideration.…”

“…Although it is often suggested that people who support anti-vaccine conspiracy theories tend to be less educated and wealthy, religious, right-wing, and members of minority groups, their supporters come from across the social and political spectrums [29,30]. Moreover, while COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy especially is prevalent among the general public, research suggests that it is also high among healthcare workers and medical and healthcare students [31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42].…”

Extremism, knowledge, and overconfidence in the covid-19 restriction times

“…Many studies have noted that during this contentious situation, public response to restriction measures has polarized into two extremes, creating serious conflicts in society (e.g., Dyer, 2020 ; Hart et al, 2020 ; Mehrotra, 2020 ; Kerr et al, 2021 ). Extreme attitudes on the pro side, termed as Pro-extremism in this study, seek thorough restrictions to suppress the spread of COVID-19 and sometimes show strong hostility towards those who do not comply with the restriction requests ( Takahashi and Tanaka, 2020 ) while the extreme attitudes on the contrarian side, termed as Con-extremism , show a vocal opposition against the restrictions, as seen in media reports of anti-mask protests and COVID-19 conspiracies ( Taylor and Asmundson, 2021 ; Jabkowski et al, 2023 ). Particularly in Japan, as a Pro-extremism , the phenomenon of ‘self-restraint police’ appeared during the state of emergency ( Osaki, 2020 ), which is a colloquial term for ordinary citizens who harassed individuals or shops that did not comply with the government’s request to refrain from going out or opening for business.…”

The Relationship Between Communicative Actions, Behavioral Intentions, and Corporate Reputation in the Framework of Situational Theory of Problem Solving in a Public Health Crisis

“…Because when a public health crisis occurs, such as an epidemic, people find themselves in a state of uncertainty regarding the transmission and its potential health effects [10]. This uncertainty not only forces people to deal with a lot of questions but also fuels conspiracies and unfounded claims [11][12][13][14]. As stated in many studies (e.g., [15][16][17][18][19]), to avoid the uncertainty that might have such negative implications and to make the right decisions during an outbreak, individuals tend to seek information about the epidemic.…”