When scientific literacy meets nationalism: Exploring the underlying factors in the Chinese public’s belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories

References

• Allcott, H., & Gentzkow, M. (2017). Social media and fake news in the 2016 election. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(2), 211–236. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.31.2.211
   Google Scholar
• Anspach, N. M., & Carlson, T. N. (2020). What to believe? Social media commentary and belief in misinformation. Political Behavior, 42(3), 697–718. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-018-9515-z
   Google Scholar
• Bai, J., Guo, Y. Y., Xu, B. X., & Yang, S. L. (2017). Psychological exploration of conspiracy theory. Psychological Science, 40(2), 505–511. (In Chinese).
   Google Scholar
• Blank, T., & Schmidt, P. (2003). National identity in a united Germany: Nationalism or patriotism? An empirical test with representative data. Political Psychology, 24(2), 289–312. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00329
   Google Scholar
• Boylan, B. M., McBeath, J., & Wang, B. (2021). US-China relations: Nationalism, the trade war, and COVID–19. Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 14(1), 23–40. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s40647-020-00302-6
   Google Scholar
• Caixin. (2020). How has COVID–19 developed to such a status? Caixin Magazine, (4). http://weekly.caixin.com/2020-02-01/101507778.html (in Chinese).
   Google Scholar
• Chen, K., Shao, A., Jin, Y., Ng, A. (2020). I am proud of my national identity, and I am superior to you: The role of nationalism in knowledge and misinformation. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3758287
   Google Scholar
• Chen, K., Chen, A., Zhang, J., Meng, J., & Shen, C. (2020). Conspiracy and debunking narratives about COVID–19 origins on Chinese social media: How it started and who is to blame. Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-50
   Google Scholar
• Chen, L., Ling, Q., Cao, T., & Han, K. (2020). Mislabeled, fragmented, and conspiracy-driven: A content analysis of the social media discourse about the HPV vaccine in China. Asian Journal of Communication, 30(6), 450–469. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2020.1817113
   Google Scholar
• Chen, L., Zhang, Y., Young, R., Wu, X., & Zhu, G. (2020). Effects of vaccine-related conspiracy theories on Chinese young adults’ perceptions of the HPV vaccine: An experimental study. Health Communication, 1–11. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1751384
   Google Scholar
• Chu, Y., Lu, Y., & Shen, F. (2020). 新冠疫情下中国公众的知与行——基于"全国公众科学认知与态度"调查的实证研究 [Chinese public’s knowledge and behaviors amidst the COVID–19 pandemic: An empirical study based on the “National Survey of Public’s Science Cognition and Attitude”]. Shanghai Journalism Review, 5, 5–15. 98. (in Chinese).
   Google Scholar
• Cuan-Baltazar, J. Y., Muñoz-Perez, M. J., Robledo-Vega, C., Pérez-Zepeda, M. F., & Soto-Vega, E. (2020). Misinformation of COVID-19 on the internet: Infodemiology study. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 6(2), e18444. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2196/18444
   Google Scholar
• Devakumar, D., Shannon, G., Bhopal, S. S., & Abubakar, I. (2020). Racism and discrimination in COVID-19 responses. The Lancet, 395(10231), 1194. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30792-3
   Google Scholar
• Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., & Cichocka, A. (2017). The psychology of conspiracy theories. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(6), 538–542. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417718261
   Google Scholar
• Douglas, K. M., Uscinski, J. E., Sutton, R. M., Cichocka, A., Nefes, T., Ang, C. S., & Deravi, F. (2019). Understanding conspiracy theories. Political Psychology, 40(S1), 3–35. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12568
   Google Scholar
• Goreis, A., & Voracek, M. (2019). A systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological research on conspiracy beliefs: Field characteristics, measurement instruments, and associations with personality traits. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 205. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00205
   Google Scholar
• Guston, D. H. (2007). Between politics and science: Assuring the integrity and productivity of research. Cambridge University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Hopf, H., Krief, A., Mehta, G., & Matlin, S. A. (2019). Fake science and the knowledge crisis: Ignorance can be fatal. Royal Society Open Science, 6(5), 190161. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.190161
   Google Scholar
• Hornsey, M. J., Harris, E. A., & Fielding, K. S. (2018). Relationships among conspiratorial beliefs, conservatism, and climate skepticism across nations. Nature Climate Change, 8(7), 614–620. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0157-2
   Google Scholar
• Hyun, K. D., & Kim, J. (2015). The role of new media in sustaining the status quo: Online political expression, nationalism, and system support in China. Information, Communication & Society, 18(7), 766–781.
   Google Scholar
• Jia, H., & Liu, L. (2014). Unbalanced progress: The hard road from science popularisation to public engagement with science in China. Public Understanding of Science (Bristol, England), 23(1), 32–37. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662513476404
   Google Scholar
• Jolley, D., & Douglas, K. M. (2017). Prevention is better than cure: Addressing anti‐vaccine conspiracy theories. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 47(8), 459–469. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12453
   Google Scholar
• Jolley, D., Meleady, R., & Douglas, K. M. (2020). Exposure to intergroup conspiracy theories promotes prejudice which spreads across groups. British Journal of Psychology (London, England: 1953), 111(1), 17–35. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12385
   Google Scholar
• Klein, C., Clutton, P., & Dunn, A. G. (2019). Pathways to conspiracy: The social and linguistic precursors of involvement in Reddit's conspiracy theory forum. PloS One, 14(11), e0225098. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225098
   Google Scholar
• Libman, A., & Vollan, B. (2019). Anti-Western conspiracy thinking in China and Russia: Empirical evidence and its link to expectations of collusion. Homo Oeconomicus, 36(3-4), 135–163. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s41412-019-00082-9
   Google Scholar
• Mcgregor, I. (2006). Offensive defensiveness: Toward an integrative neuroscience of compensatory zeal after mortality salience, personal uncertainty, and other poignant self-threats. Psychological Inquiry, 17(4), 299–308. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10478400701366977
   Google Scholar
• Mikušková, E. B. (2018). Conspiracy beliefs of future teachers. Current Psychology, 37(3), 692–701.
   Google Scholar
• Miller, J. D. (1998). The measurement of civic scientific literacy. Public Understanding of Science, 7(3), 203–223. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1088/0963-6625/7/3/001
   Google Scholar
• Miller, J. D. (2004). Public understanding of, and attitudes toward, scientific research: What we know and what we need to know. Public Understanding of Science, 13(3), 273–294. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662504044908
   Google Scholar
• Moon, S. J. (2013). Attention, attitude, and behavior: Second-level agenda-setting effects as a mediator of media use and political participation. Communication Research, 40(5), 698–719. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650211423021
   Google Scholar
• Mu, M. (2020) The prevalence and antecedents of nationalism conspiracy theories during Covid-19 in China [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of the 4th International Seminar on Education, Management and Social Sciences, (ISEMSS 2020; pp. 334–341). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.200826.065
   Google Scholar
• National Academy of Sciences. (1996). National Science Education Standards Report. National Academy Press.
   Google Scholar
• Nelkin, D. (1995). Science controversies: The dynamics of public disputes in the United States. In S. Jasanoff, G. E. Markle, J. C. Petersen, & T. Pinch (Eds.), Handbook of science and technology studies, revised edition (pp. 444–456). Sage Publications.
   Google Scholar
• Nie, J. B. (2020). In the shadow of biological warfare: Conspiracy theories on the origins of COVID-19 and enhancing global governance of biosafety as a matter of urgency. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 17(4), 567–574. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-020-10025-8
   Google Scholar
• Pan, J., & Xu, Y. (2018). China’s ideological spectrum. The Journal of Politics, 80(1), 254–273. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1086/694255
   Google Scholar
• People.cn. (2020). Ten questions for which the U.S. needs to offer clear answers to the world. People.cn. Retrieved from http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2020/0502/c1002–31696152.html
   Google Scholar
• Sallam, M., Dababseh, D., Yaseen, A., Al-Haidar, A., Ababneh, N. A., Bakri, F. G., & Mahafzah, A. (2020). Conspiracy beliefs are associated with lower knowledge and higher anxiety levels regarding COVID-19 among students at the University of Jordan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(14), 4915. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17144915
   Google Scholar
• Saunders, K. L. (2017). The impact of elite frames and motivated reasoning on beliefs in a global warming conspiracy: The promise and limits of trust. Research & Politics, 4(3), 205316801771760–205316801771769. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168017717602
   Google Scholar
• Schneider, F. (2018). China’s digital nationalism. Oxford University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Smith, A. D. (2009). Ethno-symbolism and nationalism: A cultural approach. Routledge.
   Google Scholar
• Song, H. (2007). 货币战争 [Currency war]. CITIC Press Corporation. (in Chinese)
   Google Scholar
• Stephens, M. (2020). A geospatial infodemic: Mapping Twitter conspiracy theories of COVID-19. Dialogues in Human Geography, 10(2), 276–281. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820620935683
   Google Scholar
• Swami, V., Voracek, M., Stieger, S., Tran, U. S., & Furnham, A. (2014). Analytic thinking reduces belief in conspiracy theories. Cognition, 133(3), 572–585. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2014.08.006
   Google Scholar
• Tang, W., & Darr, B. (2012). Chinese nationalism and its political and social origins. Journal of Contemporary China, 21(77), 811–826. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2012.684965
   Google Scholar
• Tu, F. (2016). WeChat and civil society in China. Communication and the Public, 1(3), 343–350. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/2057047316667518
   Google Scholar
• Van Prooijen, J. W., Krouwel, A. P., & Pollet, T. V. (2015). Political extremism predicts belief in conspiracy theories. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6(5), 570–578. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550614567356
   Google Scholar
• Vraga, E. K., & Tully, M. (2021). News literacy, social media behaviors, and skepticism toward information on social media. Information, Communication & Society, 24(2), 150–166. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2019.1637445
   Google Scholar
• Wang, H., Sparks, C., Lü, N., & Huang, Y. (2017). Differences within the mainland Chinese press: A quantitative analysis. Asian Journal of Communication, 27(2), 154–171. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2016.1240818
   Google Scholar
• Xiao, X., Borah, P., & Su, Y. (2021). The dangers of blind trust: Examining the interplay among social media news use, misinformation identification, and news trust on conspiracy beliefs. Public Understanding of Science, 963662521998025. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662521998025
   Google Scholar