Covid-19 survey: Greeks second after Nigerians among conspiracy theories believers

A significant number of Greeks believe in conspiracy theories regarding the Covid-19. They are among those around the globe who are convinced that the virus is  Covid-19 is a hoax that does not actually exists, it was created deliberately, has killed far fewer people than reported.

The results of a global survey conducted by the YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project showed that with Greeks are second among the conspiracy theories believers, while Nigerians top the list.

According to a global survey on the pandemic, a large majority of Greeks trust the government in managing the pandemic.

one in two Greeks believe that health authorities are exaggerating the numbers of deaths.

The YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project poll, designed in collaboration with the Guardian, was conducted in July-August and involved 26,000 people from 25 countries.

Along with belief in other conspiracy theories – such as that the world is run by a secret cabal, the survey found widespread and concerning skepticism about vaccine safety.

Among the most widely believed Covid-19 conspiracies is that the death rate of the virus, which according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker has so far killed nearly 1.1 million people worldwide, has been “deliberately and greatly exaggerated”.

Nearly 60% of respondents in Nigeria said this was definitely or probably true, along with more than 40% in Greece, South Africa, Poland and Mexico. About 38% of Americans, 36% of Hungarians, 30% of Italians and 28% of Germans felt the same.

At the same time, many people believe that the US government was responsible for creating and spreading the virus, the Guardian said. A total of 37% of respondents in Turkey believed this, against one in five in Greece and Spain, 16% in Poland, 12% in France and 5% in the UK.

Psychologists blame for the people’s tendency to believe in conspiracy theories rather to scientists the big fear of the pandemic and the unclear messages by the governments.

“Any scary event – a pandemic, a mass shooting – that denies people a sense of control will lead to a proliferation of conspiracy theories,” said Stephan Lewandowsky, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Bristol who is an expert on misinformation.

“They give people a sense of psychological comfort: the feeling that they are not at the mercy of randomness. They’re dangerous at any time, but more so in a pandemic if they lead people to ignore official advice, or commit acts of vandalism or violence.”

But conspiracy theories also thrived on “governments’ inability to have a clear message”, said Lewandowsky. “They are another reason why we all need clear, consistent, evidence-based policymaking that can be trusted.”

The survey results have been published by the Guardian, here.