Abstract
While COVID-19 spreads aggressively and rapidly across the globe, many societies have also witnessed the spread of other viral phenomena like misinformation, conspiracy theories, and general mass suspicions about what is really going on. This study investigates how exposure to and trust in information sources, and anxiety and depression, are associated with conspiracy and misinformation beliefs in eight countries/regions (Belgium, Canada, England, Philippines, Hong Kong, New Zealand, United States, Switzerland) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected in an online survey fielded from May 29, 2020 to June 12, 2020, resulting in a multinational representative sample of 8,806 adult respondents. Results indicate that greater exposure to traditional media (television, radio, newspapers) is associated with lower conspiracy and misinformation beliefs, while exposure to politicians and digital media and personal contacts are associated with greater conspiracy and misinformation beliefs. Exposure to health experts is associated with lower conspiracy beliefs only. Higher feelings of depression are also associated with greater conspiracy and misinformation beliefs. We also found relevant group- and country differences. We discuss the implications of these results.
Highlights
While the SARS-CoV-2 virus—responsible for causing the COVID-19 disease—spreads aggressively and rapidly across the globe, many societies have witnessed the spread of other seemingly viral phenomena such as fake news, conspiracy theories, and general mass suspicions about what is really going on
Belief in Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation We developed two indices regarding belief in conspiracy theories, one with three items and another one with six items, each presenting possible conspiracy theories regarding the coronavirus disease
We found that the effect of exposure to digital media was moderated by trust in these media: as trust in digital media increased, the association between exposure to digital media and conspiracy and/or misinformation beliefs increased as well
Summary
While the SARS-CoV-2 virus—responsible for causing the COVID-19 disease—spreads aggressively and rapidly across the globe, many societies have witnessed the spread of other seemingly viral phenomena such as fake news, conspiracy theories, and general mass suspicions about what is really going on. Social media platforms and digital technologies have facilitated high-speed information sharing between news media producers and consumers, as well as cross-platform information cascades (Shu et al, 2016; Vosoughi et al, 2018). Within these online environments, false and fake narratives tend to outperform real news in terms of popularity and audience engagements (Silverman, 2016). Disinformation and conspiracy theories “are attempts to explain the ultimate causes of significant social and political events and circumstances with claims of secret plots by two or more powerful actors” (Douglas et al, 2019, p. 4)
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