New York University, New York City, USA.
University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2023 Jan;49(1):48-65. doi: 10.1177/01461672211054947. Epub 2021 Dec 7.
Conspiracy theories related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have propagated around the globe, leading the World Health Organization to declare the spread of misinformation an "Infodemic." We tested the hypothesis that national narcissism-a belief in the greatness of one's nation that requires external recognition-is associated with the spread of conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic. In two large-scale national surveys ( = 950) conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom, and secondary analysis of data from 56 countries ( = 50,757), we found a robust, positive relationship between national narcissism and proneness to believe and disseminate conspiracy theories related to COVID-19. Furthermore, belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories was related to less engagement in health behaviors and less support for public-health policies to combat COVID-19. Our findings illustrate the importance of social identity factors in the spread of conspiracy theories and provide insights into the psychological processes underlying the COVID-19 pandemic.
与 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）相关的阴谋论在全球范围内传播，世界卫生组织宣布错误信息的传播是一种“信息疫情”。我们检验了一个假设，即民族自恋——一种认为自己的民族伟大、需要外部认可的信念——与 COVID-19 大流行期间阴谋论的传播有关。在美国和英国进行的两项大规模全国性调查（n = 950）中，以及对来自 56 个国家的数据的二次分析（n = 50757）中，我们发现民族自恋与倾向于相信和传播与 COVID-19 相关的阴谋论之间存在着强有力的正相关关系。此外，相信 COVID-19 阴谋论与较少参与健康行为和较少支持对抗 COVID-19 的公共卫生政策有关。我们的研究结果说明了社会认同因素在阴谋论传播中的重要性，并为 COVID-19 大流行背后的心理过程提供了深入了解。
