Belief in COVID‐19 Conspiracy Theories Reduces Social Distancing over Time

Bierwiaczonek, Kinga; Kunst, Jonas R.; Pich, Olivia

doi:10.1111/aphw.12223

Cited by 201 publications

(203 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…While we are still far from fully understanding how individuals' belief systems may affect their psychological adjustment during times of crisis, there is little doubt about the relevance of both positive and negative beliefs about the world and others. For instance, there is already evidence showing that suspiciousness and conspiracy beliefs have a negative effect on preventive measures such as social distancing (Bierwiaczonek et al 2020). Based on our results, we can hypothesise that interventions aimed at promoting primal ideas about the goodness of the world and human nature might facilitate PTG.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Post-Traumatic Growth and Stress-Related Responses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a National Representative Sample: The Role of Positive Core Beliefs About the World and Others

et al. 2021

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Post-Traumatic Growth and Stress-Related Responses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a National Representative Sample: The Role of Positive Core Beliefs About the World and Others

et al. 2021

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“…As in Bierwiaczonek et al (2020), social distancing was measured by asking the participants to indicate whether they engaged in different types of social distancing behavior "as a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak": (1) "I avoid in-person contact with others, " (2) "I avoid attending social gatherings in person, " and (3) "I try to keep a safe distance to others. " Responses were measured on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).…”

Section: Social Distancingmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Political and Social Trust Can Impact Social Distancing Practices During COVID-19 in Unexpected Ways

Woelfert

Kunst

2020

Front. Psychol.

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In times of the coronavirus, complying with public health policies is essential to save lives. Understanding the factors that influence compliance with social distancing measures is therefore an urgent issue. The present research investigated the role of political and social trust for social distancing using a variety of methods. In Study 1 (N = 301), conducted with a sample from the United Kingdom in the midst of the virus outbreak (i.e., the first wave), neither political nor social trust had main associations with self-reported social distancing tendencies. However, both factors interacted such that social trust was associated with lower social distancing tendencies among participants with low levels of political trust. In Study 2, using an experimental longitudinal design and again conducted with a sample collected from the UK (N = 268) during the first wave of the pandemic, social distancing practices increased over time, independent of an experimental manipulation of political trust. Moreover, while the interaction between political and social trust from the first study could not be conceptually replicated, social trust was positively related to social distancing intentions. Moving from the individual to the country level and assessing actual behavior at both the first and second wave of the pandemic, in Study 3 (N = 65 countries), country-level political trust was related to less social distancing during the first wave. Social trust was related to a higher growth rate of infections. Against the background of these inconsistent findings, we discuss the potential positive and unexpected negative effects of social trust for social distancing.

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“…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 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Mulukom¹,

Pummerer²,

Alper³

et al. 2020

Preprint

100

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COVID-19 conspiracy theories emerged almost immediately after the beginning of the pandemic, and the number of believers does not appear to decline. Believing in these theories can negatively affect adherence to safety guidelines and vaccination intentions, potentially endangering the lives of many. Thus, one part in successfully fighting the pandemic is to understand the antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, which are here presented in a rapid review summarizing research from more than 28 countries. We evaluate the contribution of individual difference variables (demographic variables, personality traits, coping with threat and uncertainty), beliefs, biases, and attitudes (epistemically suspect beliefs, thinking styles and cognitive biases, attitudes towards science), and social factors (group identities, trust in authorities, social media) to COVID-19 conspiracy theories. We discuss the consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs in regard to safeguarding behaviours (hygiene, distancing, and mask-wearing), self-centred (hoarding) and misguided behaviours (pseudoscientific practices), vaccination intentions, mental health and negative social consequences (e.g., discrimination and violence). Differences between countries as well as various conspiracy theories are considered. Summarising, we suggest that belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories is boosted by low levels of trust in a context of threat and low levels of comprehensive, accessible information in a context of uncertainty and unknowns. We conclude that research is urgently needed to address potential interventions to (re-)establish trust and provide accessible information about COVID-19.

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Belief in COVID‐19 Conspiracy Theories Reduces Social Distancing over Time

Cited by 201 publications

References 34 publications

Post-Traumatic Growth and Stress-Related Responses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a National Representative Sample: The Role of Positive Core Beliefs About the World and Others

Post-Traumatic Growth and Stress-Related Responses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a National Representative Sample: The Role of Positive Core Beliefs About the World and Others

How Political and Social Trust Can Impact Social Distancing Practices During COVID-19 in Unexpected Ways

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

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