Framing the Origins of COVID-19

Conspiracy theories have flourished about the origins of a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes an acute respiratory syndrome (coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) in humans. This article reports the results from a study that evaluates the impact of exposure to framed messages about the origin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScience communication Vol. 42; no. 5; pp. 562 - 585
Main Authors Bolsen, Toby, Palm, Risa, Kingsland, Justin T.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2020
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Conspiracy
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Origins
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Viral diseases
COVID-19
public opinion
framing
conspiracies
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Summary:Conspiracy theories have flourished about the origins of a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes an acute respiratory syndrome (coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) in humans. This article reports the results from a study that evaluates the impact of exposure to framed messages about the origins of COVID-19. We tested four hypotheses: two focusing on its origins as either zoonotic or human-engineered and two concerning the impacts of origin beliefs on the desire to penalize China or support increased funding for biomedical research. The results accentuate the importance of finding ways to combat the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories related to this global pandemic.
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ISSN:1075-5470
1552-8545
DOI:10.1177/1075547020953603