Research Article
What is Misinformation or fake news on Social Media? And, how inter-group relations affected the scenario?
Read through the research
Misinformation or fake
news on social media, in the present context, is a widespread phenomenon due to
the expansion of social media and likewise platforms that do not authenticate
the spread of information as right or wrong. The users of these platforms
subconsciously contribute to the making of conspiracy theories. However, it is
not only the case with social media. Historically there are also shreds
of evidence that conspiracy theories have ever existed throughout human
history. Primarily, conspiracy theories serve as a narrative that has the
potential to cause social disturbance and may lead to the formulation of
extreme public beliefs and behaviors concerning significantly important issues.
A most recent instance can be seen in the health sector concerning the Covid-19
pandemic where misinformation as a conspiracy theory played a tremendous role
in causing health implications Peeping into history, we come across a number of
evidence where conspiracy theories posed problems for the states in controlling
social, political, and health-related issues. Similarly, in the past, there had
been a number of devastating events which caused humanity a great loss on the
global level, while the consequences of these events opened up the mouth of
more savage prejudice and malpractices on the racial levels pertaining to
religion and geographies which not cause social disturbance but also contribute
to creating the issues of hatred, racial discrimination, and discontent. It is
obvious that these conspiracy theories had been dominating the social process
of brotherhood, equality of humanity, and the general perception of a single
global community. Considering the severity of these conspiracy theories, and
the implications posed by these theories, this paper aims at finding out the
psychological factors which contribute to the formulation of these conspiracy
theories, and the effects centering the health implications. This paper takes
its origin from the systematic literature review technique to enhance the
purpose of the investigation.
Conspiracy theories
have been identified as a secret plot designed by an authority or power with a
planned intention of getting the set goals. These set objectives mainly cover
the areas of political and economical upsurge and also touch upon the areas of
current affairs such as foreign affairs and international relations (Douglas et
al., 2019). Primarily, conspiracy theories come into existence with the violent
intention of usurping political and economic powers, dominating rights, influencing
certain agreements, or destabilizing institutions. Oftentimes, there involve
two or more powerful actors who create conspiracy theories (Keeley, 1999). The
historical perspective of conspiracy theories dates back to the stone age;
however, the term was first used by Sir Karl Popper in the year the 1950s when
he emphasized the idea that any theory pertaining to hiding the truth or
formulated on false grounds may fall in the domain of conspiracy theory;
whereas, the people who approve and preach it, are irrational. However, there
is a problem with its nature of suggestiveness in meanings that it is always
bad (Coady, 2021). The understanding of conspiracy theories on their literal
and functional level is a complex question in its manifestations; however,
historical perspectives help to navigate the essence of conspiracy theories in
the context of societal crises (van
Prooijen & Douglas, 2017). Swami in his paper provides a comprehensive
approach to understanding the historical perspective of the Jewish Holocaust
covering the population of Malaysia in an attempt to examine the correlates
which formulate an interpretative response toward conspiracy theories (2012).
The author examined two studies, aiming to investigate the nature of conspiracy
theories in the light of public opinion. Study one methodologically
centered the hypothesis that “conspiracy theories are monological in nature”
and ” conspiracist ideation
reflects feelings of anomie”. The sample population of the study was Malaysian.
The authors quantitatively measured the ideation and feelings of anomie. The
result showed that the measure of anomie is not a strong predictor of
conspiracy ideation. Whereas, study two indicated that the participant
showed anti-Israeli attitudes, modern racism targeting Chinese, right-wing
authoritarianism, and social dominance orientation suggesting that the beliefs should be seen in psychological contexts of prejudice and racial
discrimination. In the study conducted by Jolley et al., (2019) holds the view
that inter-group conspiracy theories fuel the attitude and acceptance of
prejudice and become the reason to destructors of global peace and denounce
humanistic approaches. In three interrelated studies, authors conducted the
studies to measure the effects of intergroup conspiracy theories in relation to
prejudice. The result of the first study showed that “exposure to conspiracy
theories concerning immigrants to Britain from the European Union exacerbated
prejudice towards this group in opposition to anti-conspiracy material or
control. The second study showed the same results where participants showed
unwillingness to vote for a Jewish political leader. While the results of study
three demonstrated that groups not only showed prejudice for Jewish people but
also for some outer groups including Asians, Arabs, and Irish people. This
helps to understand the devastating health implications of conspiracy theories in
the making of healthy intergroup relations where prejudice plays a negative
role in affecting humanistic approaches. The findings of the study are
justified on the level that there are issues among the world nations due to
race or religion and this reason has been a considerable factor while
developing international relations. To evaluate, the nations of the world have a
pre-defined set of behavior and responses for the other. On an ethnic and religious
basis, we have also witnessed mascaras in history. Some of the wars and
more specifically, World War II, and the Soviet events provide evidence
for inter-group relations. Intergroup relations simply expand prejudice
(Dru, 2007). Similarly, some conspiracy theories also have the potential to
cause a shift in rise to anxiety, hatred and depression, and shock. For
instance, the incident of 9/11 left its effects almost on every state of the
world, and collectively, all of the states had to undergo some kind of loss
through this event. Specifically considering Americans, they had psychological
implications of this event where the research results demonstrate that this
event still lives in the mind of the Americans as a painful memory. The
findings showed that 93% of the population ranging from the age of 30 years
still remembers the event as it had happened (Hartig & Doherty, 2021).
Whereas the researchers like (Swami
et al., 2009) investigated
the perception of the population for this event seen on the level of conspiracy
theory formulation. Interestingly, a considerable population of America did not
believe in Al-Qaida and Osama bin Ladin rather they thought it was a pre-planned event by American officials.
Some of the population had the view that American officials already knew about
the event but they did not do anything to stop this happening, intentionally.
However, the authors conclude that “Agreeableness and Openness, in particular,
may have the satisfactory predictive ability in relation to conspiracy
theories”. This argument helps to comprehend those conspiracy theories have the
ability to mold public opinion amid the likely situations leading to discontent
and other psychological implications like fear and anxiety. The recent scenario
of the Covid-19 pandemic has opened up new vistas of debate concerning
conspiracy theories and their health implications where a triangle of social
behaviors took birth from the scenario. At the first level, the conspiracy was
defined as the origin and cause of the Pandemic. Secondly, the conspiracy
supported the avoidance of Covid-vaccination. Thirdly, a debate supplemented
the first two theories in the form of the term “the world order”. The effects
of these scenarios caused serious health implications for the whole global
community. The debate about the origin of Covid-19 took the perspective that it
is not a virus but it a conspiracy. The effects of this misinformation caused a
great loss to the states in their efforts to control the spread of Covid-19.
Therefore, significant numbers of research were held worldwide to understand
the perception of conspiracy and its effects based on public beliefs. De Coninck et al., (2021) conducted a
study on the misconception, misinformation, and mass suspicion as a conspiracy
theory at the global level concerning Covid-19. A multinational population
sample of 8, 806 participants took part in the research. The results
demonstrated that transmission media like television, radio, and newspapers
helped to reduce belief in conspiracy theories; whereas, personal contacts,
political exposure, and digital media proved to be acting like a supplement
belief in conspiracy theories about Covid-19. The significant part of the study
results is a high-risk indicator for psychological abnormalities including
depression, i.e. people who believe in conspiracy theories showed a positive
association with depression and anxiety. Similarly, Romer & Jamieson, (2020)
also studied conspiracy theories as a barrier to planning and fighting
mass-spread Covid-19 covering the U.S. population. The background for this
research validates the research problem the reasons that preventive measures
for the Novel Corona Virus include wearing masks, keeping a distance from
others, and the use of vaccination (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
2022); whereas, the citizen tended to avoid using such preventive measures. The
researchers collected the data through 1050 participants and concluded that
people showed resistive behavior for taking preventive measures due to having
belief in conspiracy theories. To add to
this, the spread of misinformation concerning the use of vaccination raised new
trust issues and challenges. The information eco-system get failed to
supplement the health sector for the global community showed hesitancy toward
getting vaccinated. Therefore, social psychologists investigated the effects of
conspiracy theories on the vaccination process. (Pertwee et al.,( 2022) studied
a similar context in their investigation of the rumors concerning vaccination.
The background of the study highlights that research conducted by Vaccine
Confidence Project in 2020 (Loomba et al., 2021) demonstrated that a falsifying
claim on social media circulates proclaiming that 97% of the vaccination
recipients will become infertile. Therefore, readiness to get vaccinated among
the population worldwide had fallen down to a considerable level. The researchers
concluded that the factors contributing to causing misinformation are not under
the control of the medical domain; however, these factors cause anxiety and
feeling of discontent; therefore, multi-stakeholder efforts are needed to
control these conspiracy theories. People believe and accept conspiracy
theories due to certain factors; however, the impact of believing and accepting
these theories affects psychological health and causes general health
implications. While turning toward the rumor of the “world order”, amid the
Covid-19 situation, we find that it increased anxiety at the global level. The
“new world order” conspiracy theory is a narrative that has been explained
differently in different regions of the world. However, one agreed opinion on
social media platforms became the trend that the world is going to have been
controlled by a single government and this privilege will be attained through
different strategies adhering to the Covid-19 situation (The “New World
Order”). This issue left an impact on a significant number of populations
affecting them psychologically. Therefore, they avoided the use of vaccination.
Concerning other projects like Polio vaccination, some Asian countries like
Pakistan and Afghanistan still resist polio vaccination programs owing to
conspiracy theories (Ali et al., 2019). In Afghanistan, three Polio Vaccination
workers were shot dead (Three Female Polio Workers Shot Dead in Afghanistan –
DW – 03/30/2021, 2021). While in the tribal areas of Pakistan, a smooth vaccination
process is still an issue of consideration. Due to these reasons, polio
cases in these countries are on the rise; whereas, in most parts of the world,
polio is rarely found anywhere. In the year 2022, Pakistan has still 20
documented polio cases (GPEI-Pakistan, 2022). Therefore, an assumption can make on the
basis of issues discussed in these countries that conspiracy theories can exist
even on a local basis. And to consider, the HealthCare sector is on the top affected list due to conspiracy theories
that ever existed in any form. It is not a new phenomenon in human history
to record but the medical field is on the hit list; whenever there is a new
disease or vaccine invention, there are also rumors associated with it
(Andrade, 2020). Most communities living in underdeveloped countries
often come with the issue of vaccine hesitancy. Oftentimes, the vaccination is
supplemented to the children at an initial stage; however, some communities
show resilience toward vaccination campaigns. Such instances are easily
found in the literature spread through the internet. Dubé et al., (2014) in
their research conclude that there had been anti-vaccine movements throughout history. In a systematic review, the authors have investigated the determinants that play a vital role in the parental decision-making process about doing vaccination process. A significant
point raised by the authors is “In high-income
countries (HIC) with well-established immunization programs, it is often argued
that vaccines are ‘victims of their own success’ with the decline in VPD
resulting in parents having no direct experience with these illnesses anymore. Thus,
fear of the risks of vaccines maybe is more prominent than fear of the diseases
vaccines prevent. However, in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), where
VPD still pose a more imminent threat to health, this argument does not explain
the decrease in acceptance of some or all vaccines in these settings” (2014). However, this argument does not
contribute to fully understanding the scenario since the research mentioned
earlier approves that conspiracy theories have a significant role in resisting
people from taking part in the immunization process. The current literature review provides
evidence that conspiracy theories are a significant factor that causes failure
to control certain political, socioeconomic, and more specifically
health-related issues.
References
Ali, M., Ahmad, N., Khan, H., Ali, S., Akbar,
F., & Hussain, Z. (2019). Polio vaccination controversy in Pakistan. The
Lancet, 394(10202), 915–916.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(19)32101-4
Andrade, G. (2020). Medical conspiracy theories:
cognitive science and implications for ethics. Medicine, Health Care
and Philosophy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-020-09951-6
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(2022, February 25). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) – Prevention
& Treatment. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; U.S.
Department of Health & Human Services.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
Coady, D. (2021). Conspiracy theory as
heresy. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1–5.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2021.1917364
De Coninck, D., Frissen, T., Matthijs, K.,
d’Haenens, L., Lits, G., Champagne-Poirier, O., Carignan, M.-E., David, M. D.,
Pignard-Cheynel, N., Salerno, S., & Généreux, M. (2021). Beliefs in
Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation About COVID-19: Comparative Perspectives
on the Role of Anxiety, Depression and Exposure to and Trust in Information
Sources. Frontiers in Psychology, 12.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.646394
Douglas, K. M., Uscinski, J. E., Sutton, R. M.,
Cichocka, A., Nefes, T., Ang, C. S., & Deravi, F. (2019). Understanding
Conspiracy Theories. Political Psychology, 40(S1),
3–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12568
Dru, V. (2007). Authoritarianism, social
dominance orientation and prejudice: Effects of various self-categorization
conditions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43(6),
877–883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2006.10.008
No comments:
Post a Comment