When we are worried, what are we thinking? Anxiety, lack of control, and conspiracy beliefs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT: Societal crises and stressful events are associated with an upsurge of conspiracy beliefs that may help people to tackle feelings of lack of control. In our study (N = 783), we examined whether people with higher feelings of anxiety and lack of control early in the COVID-19 pandemic endorse more conspiracy theories. Our results show that a higher perception of risk of COVID-19 and lower trust in institutions' response to the pandemic were related to feelings of anxiety and lack of control. Feeling the lack of control, but not anxiety, independently predicted COVID-19 conspiracy theory endorsement. Importantly, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs were strongly correlated with generic conspiracy and pseudoscientific beliefs, which were likewise associated with the feeling of lack of control a

SUBMITTER: Srol J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8013184 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature