Belief in COVID‐19 Conspiracy Theories Reduces Social Distancing over Time

Background Conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID‐19 are widespread and have even been propagated by highly ranked state officials and politicians in the US. Health authorities have cautioned that such theories, although not questioning the existence of the pandemic, may increase the spread...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied psychology : health and well-being Vol. 12; no. 4; pp. 1270 - 1285
Main Authors: Bierwiaczonek, Kinga, Kunst, Jonas R., Pich, Olivia
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.12.2020
Subjects:
Adult
Beliefs
Conspiracy
conspiracy theories
COVID-19
COVID-19 - prevention & control
Female
Health authorities
Health Behavior
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice - ethnology
Humans
longitudinal
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Middle Aged
Pandemics
Physical Distancing
Politicians
Public health
Public officials
Social distancing
Theory
United States - ethnology
Viruses
United States
United States > US
COVID-19
conspiracy theories
longitudinal
social distancing
ISSN:1758-0846, 1758-0854, 1758-0854
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Background Conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID‐19 are widespread and have even been propagated by highly ranked state officials and politicians in the US. Health authorities have cautioned that such theories, although not questioning the existence of the pandemic, may increase the spread of the virus by reducing people's efforts to socially distance. Methods We test this proposition empirically using longitudinal survey data collected at five timepoints during the early outbreak of the virus in the US (N = 403). Results Multivariate growth curve analyses showed that, although conspiracy beliefs decreased and social distancing increased over time, people holding more conspiracy beliefs at the beginning of the pandemic showed the lowest increase in social distancing. Moreover, cross‐lagged analyses demonstrated that people who reported more conspiracy beliefs at any wave tended to report less social distancing at the following wave. Conclusions Our findings show that COVID‐19 conspiracy theories pose a significant threat to public health as they may reduce adherence to social distancing measures.
Bibliography:The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest regarding the research reported in the current paper.
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ISSN:1758-0846
1758-0854
1758-0854
DOI:10.1111/aphw.12223