Pylons ablaze: Examining the role of 5G COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs and support for violence

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Amid increased acts of violence against telecommunication engineers and property, this pre‐registered study ( N = 601 Britons) investigated the association between beliefs in 5G COVID‐19 conspiracy theories and the justification and willingness to use violence. Findings revealed that belief in 5G COVID‐19 conspiracy theories was positively correlated with state anger, which in turn, was associated with a greater justification of real‐life and hypothetical violence in response to an alleged link between 5G mobile technology and COVID‐19, alongside a greater intent to engage in similar behaviours in the future. Moreover, these associations were strongest for those highest in paranoia. Furthermore, we show that these patterns are not specific to 5G conspiratorial beliefs: General conspiracy mentality was positively associated with justification and willingness for general violence, an effect mediated by heightened state anger, especially for those most paranoid in the case of justification of violence. Such research provides novel evidence on why and when conspiracy beliefs may justify the use of violence.

Related collections

Most cited references 32

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response

Jay Bavel, Katherine Baicker, Paulo S Boggio … (2020)

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a massive global health crisis. Because the crisis requires large-scale behaviour change and places significant psychological burdens on individuals, insights from the social and behavioural sciences can be used to help align human behaviour with the recommendations of epidemiologists and public health experts. Here we discuss evidence from a selection of research topics relevant to pandemics, including work on navigating threats, social and cultural influences on behaviour, science communication, moral decision-making, leadership, and stress and coping. In each section, we note the nature and quality of prior research, including uncertainty and unsettled issues. We identify several insights for effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight important gaps researchers should move quickly to fill in the coming weeks and months.

0 comments Cited 1947 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Anger is an approach-related affect: evidence and implications.

Charles S. Carver, Eddie Harmon-Jones (2009)

The authors review a range of evidence concerning the motivational underpinnings of anger as an affect, with particular reference to the relationship between anger and anxiety or fear. The evidence supports the view that anger relates to an appetitive or approach motivational system, whereas anxiety relates to an aversive or avoidance motivational system. This evidence appears to have 2 implications. One implication concerns the nature of anterior cortical asymmetry effects. The evidence suggests that such asymmetry reflects direction of motivational engagement (approach vs. withdrawal) rather than affective valence. The other implication concerns the idea that affects form a purely positive dimension and a purely negative dimension, which reflect the operation of appetitive and aversive motivational systems, respectively. The evidence reviewed does not support that view. The evidence is, however, consistent with a discrete-emotions view (which does not rely on dimensionality) and with an alternative dimensional approach. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

0 comments Cited 417 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Record: found
Abstract: not found
Article: not found

Phenomenology, behaviors, and goals differentiate discrete emotions.

Ira J. Roseman, Cynthia Wiest, Tamara Swartz (1994)

0 comments Cited 242 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Daniel Jolley:

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7232-8599

daniel.r.jolley@northumbria.ac.uk

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Br J Soc Psychol

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Br J Soc Psychol

Journal ID (doi): 10.1111/(ISSN)2044-8309

Journal ID (publisher-id): BJSO

Title: The British Journal of Social Psychology

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Inc. (Hoboken )

ISSN (Print): 0144-6665

ISSN (Electronic): 2044-8309

Publication date (Electronic): 21 June 2020

Electronic Location Identifier: 10.1111/bjso.12394

Affiliations

[ ¹ ] Northumbria University UK

Author notes

[*] [* ] Correspondence should be addressed to Dr Daniel Jolley, Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK (email: daniel.r.jolley@ 123456northumbria.ac.uk ).

Author information

Daniel Jolley https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7232-8599

Jenny L. Paterson https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6719-7088

Article

Publisher ID: BJSO12394

DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12394

PMC ID: 7323354

PubMed ID: 32564418

SO-VID: 42e863d7-5fc2-41ab-949b-c23baab12b5b

License:

This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

History

Date received : 23 April 2020

Date revision received : 27 May 2020

Page count

Figures: 1, Tables: 3, Pages: 13, Words: 12591

Funding

Funded by: Department of Psychology at Northumbria University

Custom metadata

source-schema-version-number 2.0

edited-state corrected-proof

details-of-publishers-convertor Converter:WILEY_ML3GV2_TO_JATSPMC version:5.8.4 mode:remove_FC converted:29.06.2020

Pylons ablaze: Examining the role of 5G COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs and support for violence

Read this article at