The Impact of Conspiracy Theories in Times of COVID-19: A Literature Review

• Autor(a) principal: Rezende, Alessandro Teixeira
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Carneiro, Jailson Santana, Soares, Ana Karla Silva, Figueiredo, Camilla Vieira de, Moura, Hysla Magalhães de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Psicologia Revista (Online)
• DOI: 10.23925/2594-3871.2022v31i1p51-66
• Texto Completo: https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/psicorevista/article/view/52323
• topic: Impacto; crenças; teorias da conspiração; pandemia; COVID-19; Impacto; creencias; teorías de la conspiración; pandemia; COVID-19; Impact; beliefs; conspiracy theories; pandemic; COVID-19

In the actual scenario, COVID-19 represents a serious threat to the physical and psychological well-being of the global population. The new coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) is highly contagious and easily transmitted; in this sense, the guidelines provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce this contamination involve sanitary actions and measures such as social isolation. Amongst the psychological aspects that might affect decisions on whether to follow such measures, we can highlight conspiracy theories beliefs. Considering the influence that such theories have on people’s behaviors, the current theoretical paper aims to provide an overview of studies on beliefs in conspiracy theories in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to discuss the impact that they have over people’s health and behavior. In summary, this paper provides resources to amplify this discussion on a theoretical level and to develop empirical studies considering the Brazilian reality.