Not-so-straightforward links between believing in COVID-19-related conspiracy theories and engaging in disease-preventive behaviours

Abstract

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, pertinent conspiracy theories have proliferated online, raising the question: How might believing in those conspiracy theories be linked with engagement in disease-preventive behaviours? To answer this, we conducted a repeated cross-sectional survey of around 1500 respondents to examine the link between conspiracy-theory beliefs and disease-preventive behaviours across six time-points in the United States from early February to late March 2020. The findings reveal that believing in risk-acceptance conspiracy theories (RA-CTs; e.g., “COVID-19 is a man-made bioweapon”) was linked to more preventive behaviours. However, believing in risk-rejection conspiracy theories (RR-CTs; e.g., “COVID-19 is like influenza and was purposefully exaggerated”) was associated with fewer preventive behaviours. These differential links were mediated by risk perception and negative emotions and modulated by the stage of the outbreak—RA-CTs predicted higher risk perception in the mild stage, whereas RR-CTs predicted lower risk perception in the severe stage.

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

“…Support and adherence to guidelines also seem to differ between beliefs in different kinds of conspiracy theories ( Farias and Pilati, 2021 ; Oleksy et al, 2021 ; though see Karić and Međedović, 2021 ). Believing in conspiracy theories claiming that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is a hoax or caused by 5G is more negatively related to the adherence to guidelines than believing that the virus is artificially created, potentially as a bioweapon ( Allington et al, 2020 ; Imhoff and Lamberty, 2020 ), which may follow from the fact that the latter conspiracy theories still assume that the virus is dangerous ( Chan et al, 2021 ). The findings that the artificial origin COVID-19 conspiracy belief predicted hygiene but not distancing behaviours ( van Mulukom, 2021 ) and that generic conspiracy ideation is associated with both reduced compliance to distancing guidelines and reduced perceived risk support this idea ( Maftei and Holman, 2022 ).…”

The role of conspiracy beliefs for COVID-19 health responses: A meta-analysis

“…Although the study of conspiracy theories has a long-standing and interdisciplinary tradition [ 1 , 2 , 3 ], uncertainty about their role in people’s health-related responses during the present pandemic remains. Whereas some studies suggest that conspiracy beliefs may undermine the global efforts to contain the virus by reducing people’s adherence to prevention guidelines such as social distancing [ 4 , 5 , 6 ], hygiene [ 5 , 6 ], and vaccination [ 7 , 8 ], other studies fail to replicate these effects [ 9 ] or point toward more complex links [ 10 ]. Thus, an accurate estimate of the overall effect of conspiracy beliefs on health responses across cultures and contexts, including the role of potential moderators, is yet to be established.…”

Conspiracy Theories about Infectious Diseases: An Introduction

“…Importantly, conspiracy beliefs could have significant consequences for the prevention, treatment, and aftermath of disease outbreaks (for reviews, see Douglas, 2021b; van Mulukom et al, 2020). For example, studies have shown that believing COVID-19 is a hoax reduces compliance with disease-prevention measures (e.g., Chan et al, 2021;Imhoff & Lamberty, 2020). Likewise, previous research has also demonstrated the harmful effect of conspiracy beliefs on people's attitudes and plans regarding vaccination (e.g., Hornsey et al, 2018;Jolley & Douglas, 2014).…”

“…National collective narcissism is the belief that one's nation is superior and deserving of special treatment, but its exceptionality is insufficiently recognized by others (Golec de Zavala et al, 2009). Wang et al posited that the attribution of responsibility for the COVID-19 outbreak would relate to people's risk-acceptance conspiracy beliefs (i.e., COVID-19 is a real threat and it was intentionally caused by some people, organizations, and countries) and risk-rejection conspiracy beliefs (i.e., the severity of COVID-19 is exaggerated by some people and organizations intentionally; for more on the distinction between the two types of conspiracy beliefs, see Chan et al, 2021). They further posited that the differential attribution of responsibility would mediate the link between national collective narcissism and conspiracy beliefs.…”

“…(3) the Chinese Communist Party has covered up bat-eating culinary practices as the cause of the disease outbreak; (4) COVID-19 is a bioweapon created in a Chinese laboratory (or unspecified military laboratory) and was either accidentally leaked or deliberately released; and (5) COVID-19 is a hoax created by a global cabal and is no more dangerous than the flu. Similarly, Chan et al's (2021) supplementary social media engagement analysis also identifies conspiracy theories related to bioweaponry, laboratory leakage, a Chinese cover-up, a human-made virus, and COVID-19 as a hoax. Some conspiracy theories also allege that COVID-19 was planned by the "deep state" to bring down Donald Trump's presidency (see Shahsavari et al, 2020).…”