COVID-19-related conspiracy theories in China: The role of secure versus defensive in-group positivity and responsibility attributions
Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology Vol 15 2021, ArtID 18344909211034928
; 15, 2021.
Article
in English
| APA PsycInfo | ID: covidwho-2286217
ABSTRACT
Many COVID-19 conspiracy theories implicate China and its agents, whether implicitly or explicitly, as conspirators with potentially malicious intent behind the current pandemic. We set out to explore whether Chinese people believe in pandemic-related conspiracy theories, and if so, how do their secure (in-group identification) and defensive (collective narcissism) in-group positivity predict their conspiracy beliefs. We hypothesized that national identification would negatively predict the tendency to attribute responsibility to an in-group, thus predicting less risk-rejection conspiracy theory beliefs (e.g., COVID-19 is a hoax). In contrast, national collective narcissism would positively predict the tendency to attribute responsibility for the pandemic to an out-group, which in turn would validate conspiracy theories that acknowledge the risk of the pandemic (e.g., COVID-19 is a bioweapon). To test these predictions, we collected data in China (n = 1,200) in April 2020. Supporting our predictions, national identification was negatively associated with risk-rejection conspiracy beliefs via in-group attribution, whereas national collective narcissism was positively associated with risk-acceptance conspiracy beliefs via out-group attribution. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
China; conspiracy theory; national identification; national collective narcissism; in-group; out-group; attribution; COVID-19, *Attribution, *Ingroup Outgroup, *Responsibility, *covid-19, Narcissism, Nationalism, Positivism, Social Identity, Test Construction, Group & Interpersonal Processes [3020], Human Male Female Adolescence (13-17 yrs) Adulthood (18 yrs & older) Young Adulthood (18-29 yrs) Thirties (30-39 yrs) Middle Age (40-64 yrs) Aged (65 yrs & older), China
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Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
APA PsycInfo
Language:
English
Journal:
Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology Vol 15 2021, ArtID 18344909211034928
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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