Beliefs in times of corona: Investigating the relationship between media use and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs over time in a representative Dutch sample

We investigated the relationship between different media sources (traditional media, online news media, online health sources, social media) and COVID-19 related conspiracy beliefs, and how these change over time, using four-wave panel data from a representative sample of the Dutch population (N = 1,166). Across waves, 0.1%–3.4% of our sample were certain the selected conspiracy theories were true, though this belief was unstable over time. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models revealed that individuals’ temporary level of conspiracy beliefs did not significantly depend on their temporary... Mehr ...

Verfasser: van Wezel, Marloes
Krahmer, Emiel
Vromans, Ruben
Bol, Nadine
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2023
Reihe/Periodikum: van Wezel , M , Krahmer , E , Vromans , R & Bol , N 2023 , ' Beliefs in times of corona: Investigating the relationship between media use and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs over time in a representative Dutch sample ' , International Journal of Communication , vol. 17 , pp. 692-711 .
Schlagwörter: Media Use / Digital Media / Conspiracy Beliefs / Misinformation / COVID-19 / Random Intercept Cross-lagged Panel Model / LISS Panel
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-29030081
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://research.tilburguniversity.edu/en/publications/bdbf6c20-42bc-4b39-b2a4-8fe493a4cb9f

We investigated the relationship between different media sources (traditional media, online news media, online health sources, social media) and COVID-19 related conspiracy beliefs, and how these change over time, using four-wave panel data from a representative sample of the Dutch population (N = 1,166). Across waves, 0.1%–3.4% of our sample were certain the selected conspiracy theories were true, though this belief was unstable over time. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models revealed that individuals’ temporary level of conspiracy beliefs did not significantly depend on their temporary level of media use at a previous occasion, or vice versa. However, significant correlations at the group level indicated that more frequent use of health-related and social media sources were associated with higher levels of conspiracy beliefs. These results suggest that relationships between media use and conspiracy beliefs are nuanced. Underlying processes should be investigated to develop tailored communication strategies to combat the ongoing infodemic.