Conspiracy Theories

People who believe that the antimalarial drug chloroquine is an effective remedy against COVID-19 are less likely to say they will receive a vaccination for the virus when one is available, according to new research published in Frontiers in Psychology....

A British study published in Psychological Medicine suggests that the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 may be more widespread than expected. Furthermore, this lack of trust in public health information could be impeding the country’s efforts to slow the...

A study published in Politics and the Life Sciences suggests that a conspiracy mentality is linked to increased support for conspiracy theories and higher endorsement of fake news claims. The nonacceptance of well-supported science is a pervasive problem in today’s...

Even conspiracy theories that do not deny the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic are linked to lower levels of social distancing, according to new research published in the journal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being. The study found that U.S. citizens...

People with a strong interest in celebrities are not more likely than others to question the effectiveness of vaccines. However, new research published in Psychology, Health & Medicine indicates that celebrity worship is linked to several other types of anti-vaccination...

Political conservatism was associated with heightened susceptibility to believing fake news about COVID-19 in the early stages of the outbreak in the United States, according to new research published in Social Psychological and Personality Science. The study provides preliminary evidence...

A study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science found that although belief in one conspiracy about COVID-19 was linked to the belief in another, the two theories were associated with distinct pandemic-related behaviors. Conspiracy beliefs are often strongly correlated...

The use of social media and conspiracy theories about the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, are linked to reduced engagement with behaviors meant to slow the disease's spread, according to new research published in Psychological Medicine. "I’ve been studying the role of...

People with heightened conspiracy mentality appear to have adopted behaviors to prevent the spread of COVID-19 -- at least until those behaviors were officially endorsed by the government. That's the finding from a new study published in the British Journal...

A social network analysis published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research examined tweets discussing the COVID-19 and 5G conspiracy theory. The analysis found that while 35% of tweets about the conspiracy expressed support for the theory, 32% denounced the...

A study published in PLOS One found that odd beliefs/magical thinking, primary psychopathy, and trait Machiavellianism were each associated with a greater likelihood of believing in conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are beliefs involving alternative explanations for a circumstance or event,...

A new study published in BMC Public Health sheds light on the politicization of disease outbreaks. The research examined thousands of messages sent on the social media platform Twitter shortly after the outbreak of the Ebola virus in the United...

New research has found that Americans who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 are particularly prone to anti-vaccination attitudes and that these attitudes can be exacerbated by the president's tweets. The findings have been published in the Journal of Experimental...