When we are worried, what are we thinking? Anxiety, lack of control, and conspiracy beliefs amidst the COVID‐19 pandemic

• Published in: Applied cognitive psychology Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 720 - 729
• Main Authors: Šrol, Jakub, Ballová Mikušková, Eva, Čavojová, Vladimíra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley 01.05.2021; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Anxiety; Attitudes; Beliefs; Conspiracy; conspiracy beliefs; COVID-19; Emotional Response; Emotional responses; Emotions; epistemically suspect beliefs; lack of control; Locus of Control; Misconceptions; Pandemics; Psychological Patterns; Stressful events; anxiety; lack of control; COVID‐19; epistemically suspect beliefs; conspiracy beliefs

Societal crises and stressful events are associated with an upsurge of conspiracy beliefs that may help people to tackle feelings of lack of control. In our study (N = 783), we examined whether people with higher feelings of anxiety and lack of control early in the COVID‐19 pandemic endorse more con...