The impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the lives of many is indisputable. Among the possible strategies to cope with the feeling of insecurity that comes with this, religion can play a significant role. Using firsthand data from the ResPOnsE COVID-19 rolling cross-section survey, this article shows that Italian people who reported a COVID-19 contagion in their family reported also higher religiosity both in terms of attendance at religious services (via web, radio and tv) and prayer during the pandemic. The result holds primarily for those who received religious socialization during their childhood, and this reinforces the role of family transmission as a way to shape religious beliefs and behaviours and to provide individuals with religious coping strategies. These findings suggest that under dramatic circumstances a short-term religious revival is possible, even in contexts where the process of secularization is ongoing.

PurposeThis article contributes to a better theoretical and empiric understanding of mixed results in the literature investigating the relationship between institutional confidence and adherence to recommended measures during a pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe article relies on structural equation models (SEMs) based on data from ResPOnsE COVID-19, a rolling cross-section (RCS) survey carried out in Italy from April to June 2020.FindingsThe authors’ findings show the existence of multiple pathways of confidence at the national and local level. Confidence in the institutions is positively associated with support for the performance of the Prime Minister and that of the regional institutions in the North West, which in turn, raises the likelihood of following the restrictive measures. However, in the same regions, a good appraisal of the regional system's performance also had a direct positive effect on the perception of being safe from the virus, decreasing adherence to the restrictive measures. Finally, the direct effect of confidence in the institutions on compliance is negative.Social implicationsThe result enlightens the crucial role both of national and local institutions in promoting or inhibiting adherence to restrictive measures during a pandemic and suggests that “one size fits all” measures for increasing overall institutional confidence might not be sufficient to reach the desired goal of achieving compliance in pandemic times.Originality/valueThe authors theorize and test three cognitive mechanisms – (1) the “cascade of confidence”; (2) the “paradox of support” and (3) the “paradox of confidence” – to account for both the positive and negative links between measures of political support and public acceptability of COVID-19 containment measures.

In the increasing scholars' attention to factors associated with conspiracy beliefs, religiosity has been under-investigated, at least in empirical research. This study aims to address the issue by analysing to what extent and in which forms individual religiosity is associated with conspiracy beliefs. Religion and conspiracy theories could show both similarities and dissimilarities. First, as alternative religiosity and conspiracy theories tend to spread knowledge stigmatized by the authorities, we expect that alternative religious beliefs are positively associated with conspiracy beliefs. Second, as religion and conspiracy theories explain events with the agency of invisible forces and detect patterns in nature, also conventional religious beliefs are supposed to be positively associated with conspiracy beliefs. Third, church attendance is hypothesized to discourage conspiracy beliefs, as exposure to religious authorities could deter the adhesion to unofficial narratives. By employing data coming from the Italian joint edition of the European Values Study–World Values Survey 2018, the paper tests the hypotheses by analysing the association between the multiple dimensions of individual religiosity and belief in a conspiracy theory on pharmaceutical companies. Results show that, after controlling for confidence in political and religious institutions and attitudes towards science, only alternative religious beliefs, here measured by belief in the reincarnation, are positively associated with belief in the big pharma conspiracy theory. Empirical evidence suggests taking caution when looking at similarities between conventional religiosity and conspiracy beliefs.

Recently, the literature has devoted increasing attention to beliefs in conspiracy theories. Among various aspects, it was found that conspiratorial attitudes are associated with political behaviour. In Italy, previous research found that Five Stars Movement and right-wing parties voters tend to show higher levels of conspiratorial thinking than other voters. However, the relationship between conspiracism and vote choice remains obscure. By analysing an Italian panel survey data collected before and after 2016 constitutional referendum, we show that the belief in conspiracy theories exerts a substantial effect on the referendum vote choices, even when controlling for partisan opinions, leaders' evaluations, and perceived economic wealth. Moreover, the effect of conspiracism on referendum vote choice proves to be stronger among the supporters of the government, which promoted the referendum. This paper aims at shedding light on the processes of opinion formation and how these are affected by external attitudes, such as conspiratorial ones.

While official science has given its answer to the question on the origin of the Coronavirus (animal to human transmission), alternative theories on human creation of the virus – purposely or inadvertently – have flourished. Those alternative theories can be easily located among the family of conspiracy theories, as they always assume some secretive activity of some groups acting on their self-interest and against the good of the many. The article assesses the prevalence of these beliefs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, studies its development during the pandemic, and investigates its potential determinants. In particular, it analyses the relationship between beliefs in alternative theories on the origin of the virus and political orientation, by arguing that the association cannot be attributed to (politically) motivated reasoning, as the issue has not been highly politicized in the Italian context. Alternatively, the article suggests that the main factor driving beliefs in alternative accounts on the origins of the virus is institutional trust. Political orientation moderates its effects, depending on specific conditions (e.g. cue taking, position of the supported party either in government or opposition), and eventually reinforcing scepticism towards epistemic authorities for those with low trust in institutions. Data come from the ResPOnsE COVID-19 survey, carried out with daily samples from April to July 2020 (N > 15.000) to monitor the development of the Italian public opinion during the Coronavirus pandemic.