Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories about the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania? An Analysis of Conspiracy Theories Believers’ Profiles

Abstract

The current COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by the circulation of an unprecedented amount of “polluted” information, especially in the social media environment, among which are false narratives and conspiracy theories about both the pandemic and vaccination against COVID-19. The effects of such questionable information primarily concern the lack of compliance with restrictive measures and a negative attitude towards vaccination campaigns, as well as more complex social effects, such as street protests or distrust in governments and authorities in general. Even though there is a lot of scholarly attention given to these narratives in many countries, research about the profile of people who are more prone to believe or spread them is rather scarce. In this context, we investigate the role of age, compared with other socio-demographic factors (such as education and religiosity), as well as the role of the media (the frequency of news consumption, the perceived usefulness of social media, and the perceived incidence of fake information about the virus in the media) and the critical thinking disposition of people who tend to believe such misleading narratives. To address these issues, we conducted a national survey (N = 945) in April 2021 in Romania. Using a hierarchical OLS regression model, we found that people who perceive higher incidence of fake news (ß = 0.33, p < 0.001), find social media platforms more useful (ß = 0.13, p < 0.001), have lower education (ß = −0.17, p < 0.001), and have higher levels of religiosity (ß = 0.08, p < 0.05) are more prone to believe COVID-19-related misleading narratives. At the same time, the frequency of news consumption (regardless of the type of media), critical thinking disposition, and age do not play a significant role in the profile of the believer in conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic. Somewhat surprisingly, age does not play a role in predicting belief in conspiracy theories, even though there are studies that suggest that older people are more prone to believe conspiracy narratives. As far as media is concerned, the frequency of news media consumption does not significantly differ for believers and non-believers. We discuss these results within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Infection among Family and Friends: The Psychological Impact on Non-Infected Persons

“…This initial survey draft was reviewed by a panel of experts ( n = 3) to ensure content validity. Based on the feedback of the experts, several changes were made to the draft to create the final questionnaire [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. The final survey consisted of three major sections (i.e., questions on COVID-19 infection, psychological distress, and sociodemographic information of the study participants).…”

“…Subsequently, within the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic [ 13 , 14 , 15 ], prolonged lockdowns and social distancing, isolation and boredom, job insecurity and financial problems, uncertainty related to the future, and worries and fear were the most common factors cited for poor mental health [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. More recently, misinformation and rumors, internet addiction or excessive social and mass media consumption, work-life imbalance or altered family responsibilities, occupational losses or changes, food insecurity and material deprivation, the stigma of infection or becoming infected with COVID-19, fear of COVID-19 infection, and prevailing social and political upheaval have also been explored with regards to mental health during the pandemic [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”

ICU-Associated Costs during the Fourth Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Tertiary Hospital in a Low-Vaccinated Eastern European Country

“…Thirdly, in January 2021, the vaccination campaign started, and, in the first few months, Romania was among the first countries with the highest percentage of the population being vaccinated [44]. However, due to the inability of public authorities to promote vaccination and the overwhelming number of fake news regarding major side effects of vaccination, the number of adults willing to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 infection began to decline and, at the beginning of September 2021, only 26.8% of the population aged 16 and above was vaccinated [45][46][47]. This low percentage of vaccination coincided with the beginning of the fourth wave of the pandemic.…”

Curious about threats: Morbid curiosity and interest in conspiracy theories

“…Age, however, was predictive of both belief and interest in conspiracy theories explanations, with younger people showing more belief and interest than older people. Research on age and conspiracy theory belief has been mixed, with some studies reporting that young people are more prone to conspiracy theory belief (Douglas et al, 2016;Galliford & Furnham, 2017;Goertzel, 1994;Green & Douglas et al, 2018) and others suggesting no age effect (Buturoiu et al, 2021;Cookson et al, 2021;Douglas et al, 2016;Ross et al, 2006). Younger age is also associated with higher morbid curiosity (Scrivner, 2021b).…”