Belief in conspiracy theories is a barrier to controlling spread of COVID-19 | Penn Today

Belief in conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic is not only persistent but also is associated with reluctance to accept a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available and to engage in behaviors such as mask-wearing that can prevent its spread, according to researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center.

In a new study, based on a two-wave national panel survey conducted in late March and mid-July, the researchers find that belief in conspiracy theories about the source and seriousness of the pandemic persisted across the four-month period. These beliefs in March were associated with increasing reluctance to adopt preventive behaviors in July, including actions such as mask-wearing and accepting a vaccine when one is available.

“Belief in pandemic conspiracy theories appears to be an obstacle to minimizing the spread of COVID-19,” says Dan Romer, research director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), who co-authored the study with APPC director Kathleen Hall Jamieson. “To control the pandemic we need high rates of mask-wearing, physical distancing, and hand-washing now—and of vaccination when a safe and effective vaccine is available.”

The study is published in the journal Social Science & Medicine.

Researchers assessed belief in three COVID-19 conspiracy theories in March and July among 840 U.S. adults on a survey panel and found that high proportions believed in them at both times. More than 1 in 4 people (28%) in March reported believing that the Chinese government created the coronavirus as a bioweapon, a proportion that increased to 37% in July. Nearly 1 in 4 (24%) believed in March that some in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, are exaggerating the danger posed by the virus in order to damage Donald Trump’s presidency, which increased to 32% in July. And nearly 1 in 7 (15%) believed that the pharma industry created the virus to increase sales of drugs and vaccines, which edged up to 17% in July.

Read more at the Annenberg Public Policy Center.

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