Journal
PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Volume 194, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2022.111666
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic; Conspiracy theories; Compliance; Analytical thinking
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The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the prevalence of conspiracy theories, emphasizing the importance of self-compliance during this global crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic increased the saliency of an old phenomenon - conspiracy theories. In times of a global crisis and an unprecedented access to information, fake news seems to spread as fast as the virus. A global pandemic requires more than ever self-compliance. Only behavior change and vaccination on a large scale can bring us to normality. Yet believing in conspiracy theories about COVID-19 is expected to undermine such compliance. What determines susceptibility to believing in misinformation? In this study, using data on mostly representative samples of 45 countries around the world (38,113 participants), we found evidence that people with more deliberate thinking are less likely to believe in conspiracy theories. Furthermore, on the individual level people who are more prone to believe in conspiracy theories are less likely to comply with behavior change. We are in the midst of the biggest coordination game and such insights in social psychology can inform policymakers.
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