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Expectations about the “Natural Order of Things” and Conspiracy Beliefs about COVID-19

Author

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  • Mauro Giacomantonio

    (Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Valerio Pellegrini

    (Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Valeria De Cristofaro

    (Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Maurizio Brasini

    (Associazione Scuola di Psicoterapia Cognitiva (APC-SPC), 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Francesco Mancini

    (Associazione Scuola di Psicoterapia Cognitiva (APC-SPC), 00185 Rome, Italy
    Department of Human Sciences, Marconi University, 00193 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic represents an event that unsettled the social and economic life of many people. When individuals are faced with shocking events, they may need to find plausible explanations for such events to restore control and make sense of reality. The adoption of conspiracy beliefs may represent a functional strategy for this purpose. The present study investigated whether the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs may be associated with the degree to which an upsetting event (i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic) is perceived as incoherent with individuals’ general set of expectations about the world functioning (i.e., the natural order of things). Analyzing data from a community sample of 565 Italian participants, a path analysis model highlighted a mediation pattern where the natural order of things was negatively related to the adoption of conspiracy beliefs and, thus, was indirectly and positively related to support for the norms aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19, feelings of guilt about neglecting such norms, and intentions to be compliant with COVID-19 vaccination. Moreover, the natural order of things was indirectly and negatively related to attitudes focused on economic issues rather than public health and to negative attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines through reduced beliefs in conspiracies.

Suggested Citation

  • Mauro Giacomantonio & Valerio Pellegrini & Valeria De Cristofaro & Maurizio Brasini & Francesco Mancini, 2022. "Expectations about the “Natural Order of Things” and Conspiracy Beliefs about COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-13, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9499-:d:878649
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rosseel, Yves, 2012. "lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 48(i02).
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