Believing in conspiracy theories in Spain during the Covid-19 pandemic

Drivers and public health implications

Bibliographic Data

ID4593366
AuthorsTürkay Salim Nefes (0000-0002-0294-2064, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, corresponding author), Patrick Präg (0000-0001-6175-8470, Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique), Alejandro Romero-Reche (0000-0001-8867-8657, Universidad de Granada), Manuel Pereira-Puga (0000-0002-1677-2318, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas)
Year2023
Volume336
Pages116263
Publication date2023-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Science & Medicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0277-9536 • E-ISSN: 1873-5347
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116263
PMID37797543
OpenAlexW4387082133
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited52

Conspiracy theories jeopardize public health by disseminating misinformation and undermining authoritative health guidelines. This study explores social factors associated with the belief in conspiracy theories in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of Max Weber, it posits that beliefs in conspiracy theories are linked to both instrumental rationality considerations, such as trust in health authorities, science, and pharmaceutical companies, as well as value-rationality based factors, such as ideological orientation. The study analyzes recent, nationally representative survey data and is the first to examine the social predictors of belief in conspiracy theories in Spain during the pandemic. The findings highlight that conspiracy theory beliefs are (a) associated with considerably worse vaccination behaviors, (b) not or only very weakly associated with standard demographics such as age, sex, or education, (c) related to instrumental rationality considerations, and (d) only weakly related to value-rationality indicators such as ideological and religious affiliations. In conclusion, the study underscores the significance of public health policies that specifically address conspiracy theory convictions, and to that end, advocates for the application of a Weberian sociological perspective to better understand the diverse rationalities underlying these beliefs, particularly in the absence of discernible demographic predictors

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Economics · Ideology · Medical sociology · Misinformation · Pandemic · Political science · Politics · Public health · Rationality · Social value orientations · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Psychology · Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy

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