Expectations about the “Natural Order of Things” and Conspiracy Beliefs about COVID-19

Mauro Giacomantonio, Valerio Pellegrini, Valeria De Cristofaro, Maurizio Brasini and Francesco Mancini
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Mauro Giacomantonio: Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy
Valerio Pellegrini: Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy
Valeria De Cristofaro: Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy
Maurizio Brasini: Associazione Scuola di Psicoterapia Cognitiva (APC-SPC), 00185 Rome, Italy
Francesco Mancini: Associazione Scuola di Psicoterapia Cognitiva (APC-SPC), 00185 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-13

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic represents an event that unsettled the social and economic life of many people. When individuals are faced with shocking events, they may need to find plausible explanations for such events to restore control and make sense of reality. The adoption of conspiracy beliefs may represent a functional strategy for this purpose. The present study investigated whether the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs may be associated with the degree to which an upsetting event (i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic) is perceived as incoherent with individuals’ general set of expectations about the world functioning (i.e., the natural order of things). Analyzing data from a community sample of 565 Italian participants, a path analysis model highlighted a mediation pattern where the natural order of things was negatively related to the adoption of conspiracy beliefs and, thus, was indirectly and positively related to support for the norms aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19, feelings of guilt about neglecting such norms, and intentions to be compliant with COVID-19 vaccination. Moreover, the natural order of things was indirectly and negatively related to attitudes focused on economic issues rather than public health and to negative attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines through reduced beliefs in conspiracies.

Keywords: COVID-19; conspiracy beliefs; expectations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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