A Bioweapon or a Hoax? The Link Between Distinct Conspiracy Beliefs About the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak and Pandemic Behavior

During the coronavirus disease pandemic rising in 2020, governments and nongovernmental organizations across the globe have taken great efforts to curb the infection rate by promoting or legally prescribing behavior that can reduce the spread of the virus. At the same time, this pandemic has given r...

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Published inSocial psychological & personality science Vol. 11; no. 8; pp. 1110 - 1118
Main Authors Imhoff, Roland, Lamberty, Pia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.11.2020
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Behavior
Biomedical models
Conspiracy
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
NGOs
Nongovernmental organizations
Pandemics
Political participation
Prescribing
Refusal
Worldview
COVID-19
health behavior
coronavirus
conspiracy beliefs
pandemic
conspiracy mentality
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Summary:During the coronavirus disease pandemic rising in 2020, governments and nongovernmental organizations across the globe have taken great efforts to curb the infection rate by promoting or legally prescribing behavior that can reduce the spread of the virus. At the same time, this pandemic has given rise to speculations and conspiracy theories. Conspiracy worldviews have been connected to refusal to trust science, the biomedical model of disease, and legal means of political engagement in previous research. In three studies from the United States (N = 220; N = 288) and the UK (N = 298), we went beyond this focus on a general conspiracy worldview and tested the idea that different forms of conspiracy beliefs despite being positively correlated have distinct behavioral implications. Whereas conspiracy beliefs describing the pandemic as a hoax were more strongly associated with reduced containment-related behavior, conspiracy beliefs about sinister forces purposefully creating the virus related to an increase in self-centered prepping behavior.
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ISSN:1948-5506
1948-5514
DOI:10.1177/1948550620934692