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

TLDR

During the 2020 COVID‑19 pandemic, governments worldwide promoted containment behaviors, while the crisis also fueled conspiracy theories that correlate with distrust of science and political engagement. The study aimed to determine whether different conspiracy beliefs about COVID‑19 have distinct behavioral consequences. Three studies involving 806 participants in the United States and the United Kingdom examined these beliefs and their behavioral associations. Hoax beliefs were associated with lower containment behavior, whereas sinister‑force beliefs correlated with higher self‑centered prepping.

Abstract

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.