Left Out—Feelings of Social Exclusion Incite Individuals with High Conspiracy Mentality to Reject Complex Scientific Messages

Schnepf, Julia; Lux, Alexandra; Jin, Zixi; Formanowicz, Magdalena

doi:10.1177/0261927x211044789

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 101 publications

(116 reference statements)

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“…Of course, we do not claim that self-uniqueness is the sole correlate of trust in information or its sources. For example, one study showed that complex language in public health messages may in some individuals (those believing in conspiracy theories) negatively affect trust ( Schnepf et al, 2021 ). However, we did show that self-uniqueness is associated with individual differences in use of and trust in information sources.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Optimism, Self-Superiority, Egocentric Impact Perception and Health Information Seeking: A COVID-19 Study

Hoorens

Scambler

Deschrijver

et al. 2022

Psychologica Belgica

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We examined perceived self-other differences (self-uniqueness) in appraisals of one’s risk of an infectious disease (COVID-19), one’s adherence to behavioural precautionary measures against the disease, and the impact of these measures on one’s life. We also examined the relationship of self-uniqueness with information seeking and trust in sources of information about the disease. We administered an online survey to a community sample (N = 8696) of Dutch-speaking individuals, mainly in Belgium and The Netherlands, during the first lockdown (late April-Mid June 2020). As a group, participants reported that they were less likely to get infected or infect others or to suffer severe outcomes than average (unrealistic optimism) and that they adhered better than average to behavioural precautionary measures (illusory superiority). Except for participants below 25, who reported that they were affected more than average by these measures (egocentric impact bias), participants also generally reported that they were less affected than average (allocentric impact bias). Individual differences in self-uniqueness were associated with differences in the number of information sources being used and trust on these sources. Higher comparative optimism for infection, self-superiority, and allocentric impact perception were associated with information being sought from fewer sources; higher self-superiority and egocentric impact perception were associated with lower trust. We discuss implications for health communication.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Optimism, Self-Superiority, Egocentric Impact Perception and Health Information Seeking: A COVID-19 Study

Hoorens

Scambler

Deschrijver

et al. 2022

Psychologica Belgica

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show abstract

“…Linguistic factors can play an important role in science communication. A study by Schnepf et al ( 2021 ) inquired into whether complex (vs. simple) scientific statements on mask-wearing could lead audiences to distrust the information and its sources, thus obstructing compliance with behavioral measures communicated on evidence-based recommendations. The study found that text complexity affected audiences inclined toward conspiracy theories negatively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study found that text complexity affected audiences inclined toward conspiracy theories negatively. Schnepf et al ( 2021 ) provided recommendations for persuading audiences with a high conspiracy mentality, a group known to be mistrustful of scientific evidence. Janssen et al ( 2021 ) inquired into how the use of lexical hedges (LHs) impacted the trustworthiness ratings of communicators endeavoring to convey the efficacy of mandatory mask-wearing.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A bibliometric analysis of linguistic research on COVID-19

Peng

2022

Front. Psychol.

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Research on COVID-19 has drawn the attention of scholars around the world since the outbreak of the pandemic. Several literature reviews of research topics and themes based on scientometric indicators or bibliometric analyses have already been conducted. However, topics and themes in linguistic-specific research on COVID-19 remain under-studied. With the help of the CiteSpace software, the present study reviewed linguistic research published in SSCI and A&HCI journals to address the identified gap in the literature. The overall performance of the documents was described and document co-citations, keyword co-occurrence, and keyword clusters were visualized via CiteSpace. The main topic areas identified in the reviewed studies ranged from the influences of COVID-19 on language education, and speech-language pathology to crisis communication. The results of the study indicate not only that COVID-19-related linguistic research is topically limited but also that insufficient attention has been accorded by linguistic researchers to Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Critical Discourse Analysis, Pragmatics, and Corpus-based discourse analysis in exploring pandemic discourses and texts.

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“…Language is closely linked to many central processes undergirding psychological responses to the COVID-19 pandemic ( Jucks & Hendriks, 2021 ). For example, recent work demonstrates that pronoun use can affect communal coping with COVID-19 ( Tian et al, 2021 ) and that linguistic cues, coupled with prior beliefs, shape attributions about others ( Schnepf et al, 2021 ). This study highlights the temporal dimension of the interplay between language and psychological processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping Linguistic Shifts During Psychological Coping With the COVID-19 Pandemic

Zhu

2022

Journal of Language and Social Psychology

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How does language change reveal the psychological trajectories of people coping with a COVID-19 infection? This study examined writings on social media over 12 weeks from people who self-reported having tested positive for COVID-19. People used fewer words reflecting anxiety and distancing but more words indicating reinterpretation over time. The language patterns for describing the experience of COVID-19 infections differed from those for describing other unrelated topics. The findings reveal the temporal dynamics of psychological adjustment to an unfolding crisis.

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Left Out—Feelings of Social Exclusion Incite Individuals with High Conspiracy Mentality to Reject Complex Scientific Messages

Cited by 13 publications

References 101 publications

Comparative Optimism, Self-Superiority, Egocentric Impact Perception and Health Information Seeking: A COVID-19 Study

Comparative Optimism, Self-Superiority, Egocentric Impact Perception and Health Information Seeking: A COVID-19 Study

A bibliometric analysis of linguistic research on COVID-19

Mapping Linguistic Shifts During Psychological Coping With the COVID-19 Pandemic

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