Abstract
Social media platforms have long been recognised as major disseminators of health misinformation. Many previous studies have found a negative association between health-protective behaviours and belief in the specific form of misinformation popularly known as 'conspiracy theory'. Concerns have arisen regarding the spread of COVID-19 conspiracy theories on social media. Three questionnaire surveys of social media use, conspiracy beliefs and health-protective behaviours with regard to COVID-19 among UK residents were carried out online, one using a self-selecting sample (N = 949) and two using stratified random samples from a recruited panel (N = 2250, N = 2254). All three studies found a negative relationship between COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 health-protective behaviours, and a positive relationship between COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and use of social media as a source of information about COVID-19. Studies 2 and 3 also found a negative relationship between COVID-19 health-protective behaviours and use of social media as a source of information, and Study 3 found a positive relationship between health-protective behaviours and use of broadcast media as a source of information. When used as an information source, unregulated social media may present a health risk that is partly but not wholly reducible to their role as disseminators of health-related conspiracy beliefs.
Highlights
Conspiracism is the tendency to assume that major public events are secretly orchestrated by powerful and malevolent entities acting in concert (Douglas et al, 2019)
We report on three online questionnaire surveys of engagement in COVID-19-specific health-protective behaviours, use of social media as a source of information about COVID-19, and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, defined as beliefs which entail that the COVID-19 public health crisis was produced through intentional agency
Women were more likely to engage in all health-protective behaviours than men, p = 0.003, 95% confidence intervals (CIs) (1.15–2.05), and there was no relationship between gender and conspiracy belief, p = 0.591, 95% CI (0.80–1.50)
Summary
Conspiracism is the tendency to assume that major public events are secretly orchestrated by powerful and malevolent entities acting in concert (Douglas et al, 2019). Multiple studies have found a link between medical conspiracy beliefs and reluctance to engage in health-protective behaviours with regard to vaccination or safer sex (Dunn et al, 2017; Goertzel, 2010; Grebe & Nattrass, 2011; Jolley & Douglas, 2014; Thorburn & Bogart, 2005; Zimmerman et al, 2005). This raises the possibility that the circulation of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs might be associated with similar risks. When used as an information source, unregulated social media may present a health risk that is partly but not wholly reducible to their role as disseminators of healthrelated conspiracy beliefs
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