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Coronavirus conspiracy beliefs in the German-speaking general population: endorsement rates and links to reasoning biases and paranoia
Psychological Medicine ( IF 5.9 ) Pub Date : 2021-03-16 , DOI: 10.1017/s0033291721001124
Sarah Anne Kezia Kuhn 1 , Roselind Lieb 1 , Daniel Freeman 2 , Christina Andreou 3 , Thea Zander-Schellenberg 1
Affiliation  

Background

Coronavirus-related conspiracy theories (CT) have been found to be associated with fewer pandemic containment-focused behaviors. It is therefore important to evaluate associated cognitive factors. We aimed to obtain first endorsement rate estimates of coronavirus-related conspiracy beliefs in a German-speaking general population sample and investigate whether delusion-related reasoning biases and paranoid ideation are associated with such beliefs.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional non-probability online study, quota-sampled for age and gender, with 1684 adults from Germany and German-speaking Switzerland. We assessed general and specific coronavirus conspiracy beliefs, reasoning biases [jumping-to-conclusions bias (JTC), liberal acceptance bias (LA), bias against disconfirmatory evidence (BADE), possibility of being mistaken (PM)], and paranoid ideation, using established experimental paradigms and self-report questionnaires.

Results

Around 10% of our sample endorsed coronavirus-related CT beliefs at least strongly, and another 20% to some degree. Overall endorsement was similar to levels observed in a UK-based study (Freeman et al., 2020b). Higher levels of conspiracy belief endorsement were associated with greater JTC, greater LA, greater BADE, higher PM, and greater paranoid ideation. Associations were mostly small to moderate and best described by non-linear relationships.

Conclusions

A noticeable proportion of our sample recruited in Germany and German-speaking Switzerland endorsed coronavirus conspiracy beliefs strongly or to some degree. These beliefs are associated with reasoning biases studied in delusion research. The non-probability sampling approach limits the generalizability of findings. Future longitudinal and experimental studies investigating conspiracy beliefs along the lines of reasoning are encouraged to validate reasoning aberrations as risk factors.



中文翻译:


德语普通人群中的冠状病毒阴谋论:认可率以及与推理偏差和偏执的联系


 背景


人们发现,与冠状病毒相关的阴谋论 (CT) 与遏制大流行病的行为较少有关。因此,评估相关的认知因素非常重要。我们的目的是在德语普通人群样本中获得对与冠状病毒相关的阴谋信念的首次认可率估计,并调查与妄想相关的推理偏差和偏执观念是否与此类信念相关。

 方法


我们对来自德国和瑞士德语区的 1684 名成年人进行了一项横断面非概率在线研究,按年龄和性别进行配额抽样。我们评估了一般和特定的冠状病毒阴谋信念、推理偏差[急于下结论的偏差(JTC)、自由接受偏差(LA)、针对否定性证据的偏差(BADE)、错误的可能性(PM)]和偏执观念,使用既定的实验范式和自我报告问卷。

 结果


我们的样本中大约 10% 的人至少强烈支持与冠状病毒相关的 CT 信念,另外 20% 的人在某种程度上支持这种信念。总体认可度与英国研究中观察到的水平相似(Freeman 等人,2020b)。更高水平的阴谋信仰认可与更大的 JTC、更大的 LA、更大的 BADE、更高的 PM 和更大的偏执观念相关。关联大多为小到中等,最好用非线性关系来描述。

 结论


我们在德国和瑞士德语区招募的样本中,有相当一部分强烈或在某种程度上支持冠状病毒阴谋论。这些信念与妄想研究中研究的推理偏差有关。非概率抽样方法限制了研究结果的普遍性。鼓励未来沿着推理路线调查阴谋论的纵向和实验研究,以验证推理偏差作为风险因素。

更新日期:2021-03-16
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