Coping strategies and belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories

StatusPost-Print
cris.lastimport.scopus2025-08-28T03:13:28Z
dc.abstract.enConspiracy beliefs have been related to aversive emotional experiences often accompanying major world events and have also been linked to maladaptive ways of coping with stress. In this research, we examined how different coping strategies (i.e. self-sufficient, social-support, avoidance and religious) predicted the adoption of COVID-19 conspiracy theories. In two studies (Study 1, n = 1000 and Study 2, n = 616) conducted among Polish participants, we found that avoidance and religious coping were positively linked to COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs. In Study 1, conspiracy beliefs also mediated the positive relationships between avoidance and religious coping and adherence to safety and self-isolation guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 2 additionally showed that the relationship between fear, induced by reading threatening news on COVID-19, and conspiracy beliefs was the strongest among those high in avoidance coping. These studies highlight the role of coping strategies in the adoption of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs.
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii w Warszawie
dc.affiliationInstytut Psychologii
dc.contributor.authorMolenda, Zuzanna
dc.contributor.authorMarchlewska, Marta
dc.contributor.authorKarakula, Adam
dc.contributor.authorSzczepańska, Dagmara
dc.contributor.authorRogoza, Marta
dc.contributor.authorGreen, Ricky
dc.contributor.authorCisłak-Wójcik, Aleksandra
dc.contributor.authorDouglas, Karen M.
dc.date.access2023-10-26
dc.date.accessioned2023-10-26T07:27:18Z
dc.date.available2023-10-26T07:27:18Z
dc.date.created2023-08-03
dc.date.issued2023-09-05
dc.description.abstract<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Conspiracy beliefs have been related to aversive emotional experiences often accompanying major world events and have also been linked to maladaptive ways of coping with stress. In this research, we examined how different coping strategies (i.e. self‐sufficient, social‐support, avoidance and religious) predicted the adoption of COVID‐19 conspiracy theories. In two studies (Study 1, <jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 1000 and Study 2, <jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 616) conducted among Polish participants, we found that avoidance and religious coping were positively linked to COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs. In Study 1, conspiracy beliefs also mediated the positive relationships between avoidance and religious coping and adherence to safety and self‐isolation guidelines during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Study 2 additionally showed that the relationship between fear, induced by reading threatening news on COVID‐19, and conspiracy beliefs was the strongest among those high in avoidance coping. These studies highlight the role of coping strategies in the adoption of COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs.</jats:p>
dc.description.accesstimeat_publication
dc.description.physical1-41
dc.description.versionfinal_author
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/bjso.12684
dc.identifier.eissn2044-8309
dc.identifier.issn0144-6665
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/101
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37668297/
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.rightsCC-BY
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOPEN_REPOSITORY
dc.subject.enCOVID-19 conspiracy beliefs
dc.subject.enavoidance coping
dc.subject.encoping strategies
dc.subject.enreligious coping
dc.swps.sciencecloudnosend
dc.titleCoping strategies and belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories
dc.title.journalBritish Journal of Social Psychology
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle

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