Hartman, Todd K., Marshall, Michael, Stocks, Thomas V. A., McKay, Ryan, Bennett, Kate, Butter, Sarah, Gibson Miller, Jilly, Hyland, Philip, Levita, Liat, Martinez, Anton P., Mason, Liam, McBride, Orla, Murphy, Jamie, Shevlin, Mark, Vallières, Frédérique and Bentall, Richard P. (2021) Different Conspiracy Theories Have Different Psychological and Social Determinants: Comparison of Three Theories About the Origins of the COVID-19 Virus in a Representative Sample of the UK Population. Frontiers in Political Science, 3. ISSN 2673-3145
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Abstract
COVID-19 conspiracy theories have proliferated during the global pandemic, and their rapid
spread among certain groups may jeopardize the public health response (e.g., undermining
motivation to engage in social distancing and willingness to vaccinate against the virus). Using
survey data from two waves of a nationally representative, longitudinal study of life in lockdown in
the United Kingdom (N 1,406), we analyze the factors associated with belief in three origin
theories related to COVID-19, namely that it 1) originated in a meat market in Wuhan, China; 2)
was developed in a lab in Wuhan, China; and 3) is caused by 5G mobile networks. Our findings
suggest that political-psychological predispositions are strongly associated with belief in
conspiracy theories about the virus, though the direction and effect sizes of these predictors
vary depending on the specific content of each origin theory. For instance, belief in the Chinese lab
conspiracy theory is strongly associated with right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance
orientation (SDO), and general conspiracy ideation, as well as less reliable news sources, distrust
in scientists, and anxiety about the pandemic. Belief in the 5G network conspiracy theory is
strongly associated with SDO, distrust in scientists, while less strongly with conspiracy ideation
and information from social networks/media; RWA is strongly negatively associated with belief in
the 5G conspiracy theory, with older and more wealthy individuals somewhat less likely to
endorse it. The meat market origin theory is predicted by intolerance of uncertainty,
ethnocentrism, COVID-19 anxiety, and less so by higher income, while distrust in scientists is
negatively associated with this origin story. Finally, belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories is
associated with negative public health behaviors such as unwillingness to social distance and
vaccinate against the virus. Crucially, our findings suggest that the specific content of COVID-19
conspiracy theories likely determines which individuals may be most likely to endorse them
Item Type: | Article |
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Additional Information: | Cite as: Hartman TK, Marshall M, Stocks TVA, McKay R, Bennett K, Butter S, Gibson Miller J, Hyland P, Levita L, Martinez AP, Mason L, McBride O, Murphy J, Shevlin M, Vallières Fé and Bentall RP (2021) Different Conspiracy Theories Have Different Psychological and Social Determinants: Comparison of Three Theories About the Origins of the COVID-19 Virus in a Representative Sample of the UK Population. Front. Polit. Sci. 3:642510. doi: 10.3389/fpos.2021.642510 |
Keywords: | COVID-19; conspiracy theories; right-wing authoritarianism; social dominance orientation; predisposition; motivated reasoning; |
Academic Unit: | Assisting Living & Learning,ALL institute Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology |
Item ID: | 17056 |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/fpos.2021.642510 |
Depositing User: | Philip Hyland |
Date Deposited: | 23 Mar 2023 10:03 |
Journal or Publication Title: | Frontiers in Political Science |
Publisher: | Frontiers |
Refereed: | Yes |
Related URLs: | |
URI: | https://mu.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/17056 |
Use Licence: | This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here |
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