Study: Heightened susceptibility to misinformation linked to reduced mask wearing and social distancing

Between 22-23% of respondents in the UK and United States rated this assertion as “reliable.” In Ireland this rose to 26%, while in Mexico and Spain it jumped to 33% and 37%, respectively.This was followed by the idea that the pandemic is “part of a plot to enforce global vaccination,” with 22% of the Mexican population rating this as reliable, along with 18% in Ireland, Spain and the US, and 13% in the UK.The conspiracy theory that 5G telecommunication towers are worsening COVID-19 symptoms held sway over smaller but still significant segments: 16% in Mexico, 16% in Spain, 12% in Ireland, and 8% in both the UK and US.“While conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 aren’t supported by a majority of people in any country we surveyed, substantial numbers of people find conspiracies such as the idea that 5G radiation causes coronavirus symptoms or that the virus was created in a lab in Wuhan reliable,” Roozenbeek and van der Linden told PsyPost.“We also find that believing more in such misinformation is associated with a reduced self-reported willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and lower willingness to indicate complying with common health guidance measures such as wearing a mask or social distancing.”The researchers found several factors that were associated with susceptibility to COVID-19 misinformation.Political conservatism was linked to a slightly higher susceptibility to misinformation in every country except in the USA and in the UK.