AN INVESTIGATION ON COVID-19 CONSPIRACY THEORY BELIEFS AMONGST PAKISTANI MUSLIMS

With the COVID-19 pandemic gripping world, there has been an alarming increase in role of conspiracy theories generated surrounding COVID-19. Thus, this research aims to understand what conspiracy beliefs Pakistani Muslims may possess about COVID-19. The research followed correlational research design. The data was collected through an online self-reported COVID-19 Conspiracies Belief Questionnaire from 110 Pakistani Muslims with a mean age of 25.40 and SD of 5.73. Descriptive statistics explained that 59%, 60%, 79% of the participants agree with the conspiracy that it accidentally escaped from the Chinese lab, planted by the American Army in China to destroy China's economy, and it is a punishment from Allah for human sins respectively. Chi-square analysis revealed that females believe more in conspiracies as compare to male research participants. Moreover, binary logistic regression explained that COVID-19 is a way to control the world by developing psychological fear. The findings may enable local and national governing bodies to develop the knowledge-based strategies to tackle conspiracy beliefs.