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What drives beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories? The role of psychotic-like experiences and confinement-related factors

2022Journal article Open access
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dc.contributor.authorFerreira, Simão
dc.contributor.authorCampos, Carlos
dc.contributor.authorMarinho, Beatriz
dc.contributor.authorRocha, Susana
dc.contributor.authorFonseca-Pedrero, Eduardo
dc.contributor.authorBarbosa Rocha, Nuno
dc.date.accessioned2022-10-13T08:02:05Z
dc.date.available2022-10-13T08:02:05Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstractRationale The COVID-19 pandemic is a worldwide threat to public health and the global economy. The climate of fear and uncertainty associated with the pandemic has fostered the emergence of a wide range of COVID-19 conspiracy theories that have the potential to shape public opinion and hinder the effective dissemination of valid information. Beliefs in conspiracy theories have been associated with maladaptive personality traits such as schizotypy and paranoia, as well as other non-psychotic psychological characteristics (e.g., social isolation, stress). Methods An online survey was conducted to examine the associations between beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories and psychotic-like experiences in a Portuguese community sample (N = 438), while also addressing the role of sociodemographic variables, psychological outcomes (e.g., stress, affective states), confinement-related factors (e.g., confinement conditions/behaviors), and pandemic-related factors (e.g., health concerns, financial issues). Results Findings suggest that psychotic-like experiences are associated with beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, particularly perceptual abnormalities and persecutory ideation. Moreover, increased health-related concerns and reduced education levels also seem to be liability factors for these conspiracy beliefs. Conclusion These results add important insights into how the adherence to illogical and erroneous disease-related arguments can be related to psychotic-like experiences. COVID-19 conspiracy theories are yet another major challenge that governments and policymakers must contemplate when defining strategic directions to manage the current and future pandemics.pt_PT
dc.description.versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionpt_PT
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114611pt_PT
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/20919
dc.language.isoengpt_PT
dc.peerreviewedyespt_PT
dc.publisherElsevierpt_PT
dc.relation.publisherversionhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953621009436pt_PT
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/pt_PT
dc.subjectCOVID-19pt_PT
dc.subjectPandemicpt_PT
dc.subjectConfinementpt_PT
dc.subjectConspiracy theoriespt_PT
dc.subjectPsychosispt_PT
dc.subjectPerceptual abnormalitiespt_PT
dc.subjectPersecutory ideationpt_PT
dc.titleWhat drives beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories? The role of psychotic-like experiences and confinement-related factorspt_PT
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.startPage114611pt_PT
oaire.citation.titleSocial Science & Medicinept_PT
oaire.citation.volume292pt_PT
rcaap.rightsopenAccesspt_PT
rcaap.typearticlept_PT

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