New research from France found that people with more pronounced conspiracy beliefs had fewer intentions to take conventional medicines and more intentions to take alternative medicines. Individuals with stronger beliefs in generic conspiracy theories also had stronger conspiracy beliefs specifically related to chemotherapy. The study was published in the British Journal of Health Psychology.
Conspiracy beliefs are defined as attempts to explain the ultimate causes of important political and social events through allegations of secret plots, collusion, or manipulation by powerful individuals or other entities. These explanations may or may not be true. Conspiracy beliefs often arise in response to inconsistencies, uncertainties, or perceived distrust of official narratives, usually regarding events that pose a threat to the individual.
People who believe in conspiracy may be motivated by a desire to make sense of complex events, to regain a sense of control, or to express skepticism of authorities. Conspiracy beliefs can encompass a wide range of topics, including politics, science, health and social issues. While some conspiracy beliefs may be rooted in genuine concerns or unanswered questions, others may lack substantial evidence and contribute to the spread of misinformation. Studies indicate that individuals who endorse specific conspiracy beliefs also tend to endorse other conspiracy beliefs, reflecting a generalized conspiracy mindset.
Since health is an important topic for most people, many conspiracy beliefs revolve around health issues. For example, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be very fertile ground for the development of various conspiracy beliefs, ranging from beliefs that powerful entities are hiding effective drugs, or inventing the pandemic itself, to various beliefs regarding secret and sinister plans behind vaccination.
The authors of the study, Valentyn Fournier and Florent Varet, wanted to explore the links between generic and specific conspiracy beliefs and intentions to use conventional or complementary and alternative medicine. They hypothesized that the general tendency to endorse conspiracy beliefs would make individuals more likely to endorse specific conspiracy beliefs regarding chemotherapy. These authors also expected that individuals holding conspiracy beliefs would be less willing to use conventional medicine, but more willing to use alternative and complementary medicine. They conducted two investigations.
The first study examined the link between generic and specific conspiracy beliefs related to chemotherapy and their links with the intention to use conventional or alternative medicine. The participants were 291 French adults recruited via social networks. They completed assessments of generic conspiracy beliefs (the Generic Conspiracy Belief Scale), chemotherapy-related conspiracy beliefs (created by the authors), and intention to use conventional and complementary medicine (an item for each type of medicine).
The second study replicated the first with some changes in how conspiracy beliefs were assessed. The study authors divided conspiracy beliefs into bottom-up and top-down conspiracy beliefs based on the status of the group behind the conspiracy. Bottom-up conspiracy beliefs are beliefs that the organizers of conspiracies are powerful groups (e.g. governments, big businesses), while top-down conspiracy beliefs attribute conspiracies to powerless groups (e.g. immigrants, LGBT+) . The study participants were 346 French adults recruited via social networks.
The results of the first study confirmed the authors’ expectations: there was a very strong association between generic conspiracy beliefs and conspiracy beliefs specifically linked to chemotherapy. Participants with more pronounced generic conspiracy beliefs and more pronounced chemotherapy-specific conspiracy beliefs tended to report lower intention to use conventional medicine and higher intention to use alternative medicine. They were also more likely to use complementary medicine, but this association was weaker.
The researchers tested a statistical model suggesting that generic conspiracy beliefs give rise to chemotherapy-specific conspiracy beliefs, which then influence intentions to use conventional or alternative medicine. The results supported the feasibility of this model, confirming the interrelationships between these factors.
The results of the second study confirmed the results of the first. Bottom-up and top-down conspiracy beliefs had the same relationships with intention to use alternative and conventional treatments as generic conspiracy beliefs. However, the associations were weaker and the association between top-down conspiracy beliefs and intention to use conventional medicine was too weak to generalize outside of the study sample (was not statistically significant) .
“This work shows promising results for the study of the links between generic conspiracy beliefs, conspiracy beliefs linked to chemotherapy and the intention to use conventional medicine and/or complementary/alternative medicine in an oncology context. . It showed that generic conspiracy beliefs were strongly related to chemotherapy-related conspiracy beliefs and that both were related to the intention to use conventional medicine and/or complementary/alternative medicine in two vignette studies,” concluded the authors of the study.
The study highlights the links between conspiracy beliefs and medication intentions. It should be noted, however, that the design of these studies does not allow for causal conclusions to be drawn from the results. Additionally, the survey asked about cancer-related beliefs and behaviors, even though none of the survey participants had cancer.
The paper, “Conspiracy beliefs and intention to use conventional, complementary and alternative medicine: two vignette studies», was written by Valentyn Fournier and Florent Varet.
