Misbehaving in the Corona crisis: The role of anxiety and unfounded beliefs

Abstract

The aim of our study was to explore psychological determinants of COVID-19 responsible behavior. We focused on trait anxiety and worry about the corona crisis, knowledge and unfounded beliefs about coronavirus and thinking dispositions (cognitive reflection, actively open-minded thinking, faith in intuition and science curiosity) that should drive knowledge and beliefs. Additionally, we tested the effectiveness of a one-shot intervention based on the "consider counter-arguments" debiasing technique in changing COVID-19 unfounded beliefs. We used a convenience sample of 1439 participants who filled in the questionnaire on-line. Comparison of latent means showed that the "consider counter-arguments" intervention did not affect unfounded beliefs. Structural equation model, conducted on 962 participants with data on all variables, indicated that greater worry and weaker endorsement of COVID-19 unfounded beliefs lead to more responsible COVID-19 behavior. The relationship of trait anxiety and thinking dispositions with the criterion was mediated through the worry about COVID-19 and unfounded beliefs about COVID-19, respectively.

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

“…Moreover, for anyone from the general public, even needing to know such indepth epidemiological information is not only unusual but potentially out of reach. Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories is associated with lower scientific 61 and analytical 10,13,23,36,61,[68][69][70][71] reasoning, and less correct knowledge but more false beliefs about COVID-19 61 . Similarly, low levels of education are frequently associated with belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories 9,15,27,28 .…”

“…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 .…”

“…analytical thinking also showed that more analytical and less intuitive thinking styles were related to lower levels of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs 10,23,36,71 . Individuals who tend to rely on their intuitions and who had lower basic scientific knowledge were less able to discern between true and false information regarding COVID-19 and more likely to share misinformation 72 .…”

“…However, reminding them to pay more attention to the claims' accuracy resulted in them being less likely to share misinformation about COVID-19 72 . Higher interest in science has been related to having less unfounded beliefs and greater knowledge about COVID-19 10 , whereas COVID-19 conspiracy theories have been associated with lower scientific reasoning, and, in turn, less correct knowledge and more false beliefs about COVID-19 24,61 .…”

“…Since the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is highly contagious and can cause serious health complications, governments all over the world have rolled out safety guidelines aimed at curtailing the spread of the virus. 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 .…”