Background: Conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19 are widespread and have even been propagated by highly ranked state officials and politicians in the US. Health authorities have cautioned that such theories, although not questioning the existence of the pandemic, may increase the spread of the virus by reducing people's efforts to socially distance. Methods: We test this proposition empirically using longitudinal survey data collected at five timepoints during the early outbreak of the virus in the US (N = 403). Results: Multivariate growth curve analyses showed that, although conspiracy beliefs decreased and social distancing increased over time, people holding more conspiracy beliefs at the beginning of the pandemic showed the lowest increase in social distancing. Moreover, cross-lagged analyses demonstrated that people who reported more conspiracy beliefs at any wave tended to report less social distancing at the following wave. Conclusions: Our findings show that COVID-19 conspiracy theories pose a significant threat to public health as they may reduce adherence to social distancing measures.

Currently, international mobility is common. Living abroad requires adaptation to the new culture, and adaptation outcomes are influenced by various socio-cultural factors. The literature examining these factors is vast but highly specialized. This article reviews studies on adaptation in various groups of cross-cultural travelers to identify the social and cultural contextual antecedents that have been overlooked in each of the specialized research areas. Our review reveals three distinct literature fields: on expatriates and their spouses, on international students, and on first-generation migrants. Each of them conceptualizes adaptation in a different manner. The literature on expatriates is pragmatically oriented and centered on the work context, which translates into a preference for variables that can be easily linked to expatriate work outcomes (socio-cultural adaptation, work-related antecedents). In contrast, the literature on migrants focuses on psychological outcomes of adaptation and tends to understudy factors related to the overall efficacy of migrants' functioning within the host society. The literature on international students is the most eclectic and diverse, both conceptually and empirically, but lacks a common direction. We discuss the differences between these three literature groups in detail and formulate several recommendations for future research.

When moving to a new country or living in that country as ethnic-minority-group members, individuals have to relate to different cultural spheres. Scholars and practitioners commonly agree that how people acculturate influences their psychological and sociocultural adaptation. Integration (or biculturalism), which involves engagement in both one’s heritage culture and the dominant mainstream culture, is considered the most beneficial acculturation strategy. But how robust is the evidence for the role of acculturation in adaptation? Here, we present a reanalysis of a previous meta-analysis of mostly correlational studies ( k = 83, N = 23,197) and a new meta-analysis of exclusively longitudinal studies ( k = 19, N = 6,791). Results show that the correlational link between acculturation and adaptation is much weaker than previously assumed and that longitudinal evidence is minuscule at best. Our findings suggest that empirical support is still lacking for the most basic premises of acculturation theory.

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Although it is known that collective narcissism is associated with problematic intergroup relations, its predictors are less well understood. Two studies, conducted in four European Union countries (Germany, Greece, Portugal, the United Kingdom [UK]), tested the hypotheses that integrated (i.e., realistic and symbolic) threat (Study 1, N = 936) as well as distinctiveness threat (Study 2, N = 434) positively predict national collective narcissism and national ingroup satisfaction, but that only national collective narcissism predicts problematic intergroup relations in reference to threatening outgroups. The results were consistent with those hypotheses. The two types of threat predicted increased national collective narcissism and national ingroup satisfaction. However, only national collective narcissism was associated with negative emotions and hostile behavioral intentions toward the threatening outgroups, when its overlap with national ingroup satisfaction was partialled out. These cross-national findings advanced knowledge of predictors, as well as consequences, of collective narcissism.