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The Determinants of Conspiracy Beliefs Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Nationally Representative Sample of Internet Users

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  • Mariusz Duplaga

    (Department of Health Promotion and e-Health, Institute of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Grzegorzecka Str. 20, 31-531 Krakow, Poland)

Abstract

An overwhelming flood of misinformation is accompanying the pandemic of COVID-19. Fake news and conspiracy theories are so prevalent that the World Health Organization started as early as February 2020 to use the term “infodemic”. This paper is focused on the assessment of the prevalence of beliefs in conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 in Polish society. The association of support for conspiracy theories with sociodemographic variables, health literacy (HL) and eHealth literacy (eHL) was studied. The analysis reported here was based on the data from an online survey of a representative sample ( n = 1002) of the adult population of Polish Internet users. The multivariate linear regression for the COVID-19-related conspiracy belief score (CCBS) and logistic regression models for the support of individual conspiracy theories was developed. The percentage of supporters of particular conspiracy theories in the study sample ranged from 43% to 56%. The CCBS was significantly associated with age, education level, vocational status and both HL and eHL. However, it was lower for persons with higher HL (regression coefficient (B) = −0.04, p < 0.001) but higher for those with higher eHL (B = 0.04, p = 0.038). The most influential predictors of CCBS were age (standardised regression coefficient (β) = −0.21) and education level (β from 0.08 to 0.16 for respondents with lower education levels and those with master’s degrees). In conclusion, younger persons rather than older, those with a lower rather than with a higher level of education, employees rather than students and persons with lower rather than higher HL were more likely to believe the conspiracy theories. Surprisingly, contrary to expectations, higher eHL was significantly associated with greater belief in such theories.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariusz Duplaga, 2020. "The Determinants of Conspiracy Beliefs Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Nationally Representative Sample of Internet Users," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-15, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:7818-:d:434685
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    2. Uday Patil & Uliana Kostareva & Molly Hadley & Jennifer A. Manganello & Orkan Okan & Kevin Dadaczynski & Philip M. Massey & Joy Agner & Tetine Sentell, 2021. "Health Literacy, Digital Health Literacy, and COVID-19 Pandemic Attitudes and Behaviors in U.S. College Students: Implications for Interventions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-14, March.
    3. Federica Maria Magarini & Margherita Pinelli & Arianna Sinisi & Silvia Ferrari & Giovanna Laura De Fazio & Gian Maria Galeazzi, 2021. "Irrational Beliefs about COVID-19: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-21, September.
    4. Agnihotri, Arpita & Bhattacharya, Saurabh & Yannopoulou, Natalia & Liu, Martin J., 2022. "Examining social media engagement through health-related message framing in different cultures," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 349-360.
    5. María Jesús Fernández-Torres & Ana Almansa-Martínez & Rocío Chamizo-Sánchez, 2021. "Infodemic and Fake News in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-13, February.
    6. repec:thr:techub:10028:y:2022:i:1:p:451-460 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Mitja Vrdelja & Sanja Vrbovšek & Vito Klopčič & Kevin Dadaczynski & Orkan Okan, 2021. "Facing the Growing COVID-19 Infodemic: Digital Health Literacy and Information-Seeking Behaviour of University Students in Slovenia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-16, August.
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    9. Vojtech Pisl & Jan Volavka & Edita Chvojkova & Katerina Cechova & Gabriela Kavalirova & Jan Vevera, 2021. "Dissociation, Cognitive Reflection and Health Literacy Have a Modest Effect on Belief in Conspiracy Theories about COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-12, May.
    10. Željko Pavić & Emma Kovačević & Adrijana Šuljok, 2023. "Health literacy, religiosity, and political identification as predictors of vaccination conspiracy beliefs: a test of the deficit and contextual models," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.

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