Factors associated with the belief in COVID-19 related conspiracy theories in Pakistan

IF 1.8 4区医学 Q3 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Health Risk & Society Pub Date : 2021-05-19 DOI:10.1080/13698575.2021.1929865

W. Ejaz, M. Ittefaq, Hyunjin Seo, F. Naz

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引用次数: 14

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic signifies not only a global health crisis but has also proven to be an infodemic characterised by many conspiracy theories. Prior research informs us that belief in health-related conspiracies can harm efforts to curtail the spread of a virus. Therefore, as the global efforts of mass inoculation are underway, it is crucial to understand which factors shape tendencies to believe in conspiracy theories. In the current study, we explore how Pakistani adults’ perceived risk of COVID-19, sense of national identity, and trust in traditional and social media sources, are associated with their belief in conspiracy theories related to the pandemic. The data for this study come from an online survey of 501 adults ages 18–49 conducted in April and May 2020 in Pakistan. Our results show that a perception of risk makes it less likely for the participants to believe in conspiracy theories even when taking into account key demographic factors. Furthermore, trust in social media has a positive association with belief in conspiracy theories, whereas trust in traditional media and people’s sense of national identity are not associated with conspiracy beliefs. This study offers important scholarly and policy implications for navigating major global health issues, in Pakistan and other similarly situated countries.

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巴基斯坦与COVID-19相关的阴谋论信仰相关的因素

新冠肺炎大流行不仅是一场全球健康危机，而且已被证明是一场以许多阴谋论为特征的信息大流行。先前的研究告诉我们，相信与健康有关的阴谋论会损害遏制病毒传播的努力。因此，随着全球大规模接种疫苗的努力正在进行，了解哪些因素形成了相信阴谋论的倾向是至关重要的。在当前的研究中，我们探讨了巴基斯坦成年人对COVID-19的感知风险、民族认同感以及对传统和社交媒体来源的信任如何与他们对与大流行相关的阴谋论的信仰相关联。这项研究的数据来自于2020年4月和5月在巴基斯坦对501名18-49岁的成年人进行的在线调查。我们的研究结果表明，即使考虑到关键的人口因素，对风险的感知也会使参与者不太可能相信阴谋论。此外，对社交媒体的信任与阴谋论的信念呈正相关，而对传统媒体的信任和人们的国家认同感与阴谋论的信念不相关。这项研究为巴基斯坦和其他处境类似的国家解决重大全球卫生问题提供了重要的学术和政策意义。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Health Risk & Society Multiple-

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

14.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Health Risk & Society is an international scholarly journal devoted to a theoretical and empirical understanding of the social processes which influence the ways in which health risks are taken, communicated, assessed and managed. Public awareness of risk is associated with the development of high profile media debates about specific risks. Although risk issues arise in a variety of areas, such as technological usage and the environment, they are particularly evident in health. Not only is health a major issue of personal and collective concern, but failure to effectively assess and manage risk is likely to result in health problems.