I Wear a Mask for My Country: Conspiracy Theories, Nationalism, and Intention to Adopt Covid-19 Prevention Behaviors at the Later Stage of Pandemic Control in China

ABSTRACT

Various conspiracy theories have accompanied COVID-19 since its initial outbreak. Based on a nationwide survey in China, this study probes the health consequences of beliefs in different COVID-19 conspiracy theories in China. The research found that believing the coronavirus has a foreign natural origin was associated with increased rather than decreased intention to adopt protective behaviors. Nonetheless, believing that the source of the pandemic was a Chinese lab or that it is a foreign biological weapon was related to reduced intentions to protect one’s health. In addition, measured as national pride and satisfaction with China’s pandemic control effort, people’s level of nationalism was strongly associated with their intention to adopt protective behaviors, which moderates the health consequences of believing in false conspiracy theories. Scientific literacy was also associated with an increased likelihood of adopting preventive measures. Despite revealing the diversified health consequences of conspiracy beliefs, this study demonstrates the importance of examining collectivist sociopolitical constructs in health communication.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and instructions. We also thank Thomas A. Gavin, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University, for copy-editing the English in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This study is supported by the “AI-based Automatic Classification of Online Ideology and Comprehensive Governance of Man-machine” project of the National Social Science Foundation of China [No.20CXW026]. The Chinese name of the funding is “基于人工智能的网络意识形态自动分类和人机综合治理研究.”