Authoritarianism, Conspiracy Beliefs, Gender and COVID-19: Links Between Individual Differences and Concern About COVID-19, Mask Wearing Behaviors, and the Tendency to Blame China for the Virus

The Influence of COVID-19 in Endocrine Research: Critical Overview, Methodological Implications and a Guideline for Future Designs

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of people's lives, including not only individual social behavior, healthcare procedures, and altered physiological and pathophysiological responses. As a result, some medical studies may be influenced by one or more hidden factors brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the literature review method, we are briefly discussing the studies that are confounded by COVID-19 and facemask-induced partiality and how these factors can be further complicated with other confounding variables. Facemask wearing has been reported to produce partiality in studies of ophthalmology (particularly dry eye and related ocular diseases), sleep studies, cognitive studies (such as emotion-recognition accuracy research, etc.), and gender-influenced studies, to mention a few. There is a possibility that some other COVID-19 related influences remain unrecognized in medical research. To account for heterogeneity, current and future studies need to consider the severity of the initial illness (such as diabetes, other endocrine disorders), and COVID-19 infection, the timing of analysis, or the presence of a control group. Face mask-induced influences may confound the results of diabetes studies in many ways.

Contemporary trends in psychological research on conspiracy beliefs. A systematic review

Background

The number of psychological studies on conspiracy beliefs has been systematically growing for about a dozen years, but in recent years, the trend has intensified. We provided a review covering the psychological literature on conspiracy beliefs from 2018 to 2021. Halfway through this period, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, accompanied by an explosion of movements based on conspiracy theories, intensifying researchers' interest in this issue.

Methods

Adhering to PRISMA guidelines, the review systematically searched for relevant journal articles published between 2018 and 2021. A search was done on Scopus and Web of Science (only peer-reviewed journals). A study was included if it contained primary empirical data, if specific or general conspiracy belief(s) were measured and if its correlation with at least one other psychological variable was reported. All the studies were grouped for the descriptive analysis according to the methodology used, the participants' characteristics, the continent of origin, the sample size, and the conspiracy beliefs measurement tools. Due to substantial methodological heterogeneity of the studies, narrative synthesis was performed. The five researchers were assigned specific roles at each stage of the analysis to ensure the highest quality of the research.

Results

Following the proposed methodology, 308 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility and 274 articles (417 studies) meeting the inclusion criteria were identified and included in the review. Almost half of the studies (49.6%) were conducted in European countries. The vast majority of the studies (85.7%) were carried out on samples of adult respondents. The research presents antecedents as well as (potential) consequences of conspiracy beliefs. We grouped the antecedents of conspiracy beliefs into six categories: cognitive (e.g., thinking style) motivational (e.g., uncertainty avoidance), personality (e.g., collective narcissism), psychopathology (e.g., Dark Triad traits), political (e.g., ideological orientation), and sociocultural factors (e.g., collectivism).

Conclusion and limitations

The research presents evidence on the links between conspiracy beliefs and a range of attitudes and behaviors considered unfavorable from the point of view of individuals and of the society at large. It turned out that different constructs of conspiracy thinking interact with each other. The limitations of the study are discussed in the last part of the article.

Authoritarianism, psychopathy, and resistance to wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic: A partial replication and extension of key findings

Controversial recent research suggests Americans with more authoritarian tendencies showed less concern about COVID-19 and self-report less mask wearing. The present study set out to replicate this result with a larger sample. The study also sought to extend the original research by investigating how the Dark Triad traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism are related 1 COVID-19 attitudes and behaviors. Nine-hundred ninety-six United States high school graduates were asked 8 questions about their level of concern about the effects of the virus on health and finances, how frequently they wore masks, which authority figures they trusted, and whether China was responsible for the virus. Correlational and regression analyzes showed that authoritarianism, Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy were all negatively related to self-reported mask wearing. An explanation is offered for an apparent contradiction between the presented results and studies that showed authoritarian support for lockdowns early during the outbreak.

Reality bites: An analysis of corona deniers in Germany over time

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unprecedented government interventions in many people's lives. Opposition to these measures was not only based on policy disagreements but for some founded in an outright denial of basic facts surrounding the pandemic, challenging social cohesion. Conspiracy beliefs have been prolific within various protest groups and require attention, as such attitudes have been shown to be associated with lower rule compliance. Several studies have shown that the characteristics linked to holding COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs are complex and manifold; however, those insights usually rest on cross-sectional studies only. We have less knowledge on whether these cross-sectional correlates also reveal which parts of the population have been newly convinced by conspiracy theories or have dropped their support for them as the pandemic evolved. Using a unique panel data set from Germany, this paper explores a wide range of characteristics and compares the insights gained from cross-sectional associations on the one hand and links to the ways in which people change their views on the other hand. The findings show that cross-sectional analyses miss out on nuanced differences between different groups of temporary and more consistent conspiracy supporters. Specifically, this paper identifies major differences in the profiles of people who have been denying COVID-19 consistently compared to those who changed their minds on the question and those who assessed the reality correctly throughout. In doing so, socio-political and perception-based dimensions are differentiated and distinctions between respondents from East and West Germany explored.

Individual costs and community benefits: Collectivism and individuals' compliance with public health interventions

Differences in national responses to COVID-19 have been associated with the cultural value of collectivism. The present research builds on these findings by examining the relationship between collectivism at the individual level and adherence to public health recommendations to combat COVID-19 during the pre-vaccination stage of the pandemic, and examines different characteristics of collectivism (i.e., concern for community, trust in institutions, perceived social norms) as potential psychological mechanisms that could explain greater compliance. A study with a cross-section of American participants (N = 530) examined the relationship between collectivism and opting-in to digital contact tracing (DCT) and wearing face coverings in the general population. More collectivistic individuals were more likely to comply with public health interventions than less collectivistic individuals. While collectivism was positively associated with the three potential psychological mechanisms, only perceived social norms about the proportion of people performing the public health interventions explained the relationship between collectivism and compliance with both public health interventions. This research identifies specific pathways by which collectivism can lead to compliance with community-benefiting public health behaviors to combat contagious diseases and highlights the role of cultural orientation in shaping individuals' decisions that involve a tension between individual cost and community benefit.

Théories du complot et COVID-19 : comment naissent les croyances complotistes ?

La pandémie COVID-19 causée par le nouveau coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 a provoqué une crise mondiale sans précédent, associée à une prolifération de théories du complot. La prévalence de ces croyances complotistes a participé à affaiblir la crédibilité des mesures gouvernementales de santé publique, limiter l'accès des citoyens aux sources d’information fiables, et perturber la réponse des systèmes de santé face à la crise sanitaire. Plusieurs hypothèses ont été proposées en psychologie et en sciences sociales pour comprendre la genèse de ces croyances dans des contextes épidémiques, associant l’implication conjointe de facteurs psychologiques (comme la volonté de préserver sa sécurité, de maintenir une image de soi positive, ou encore de renforcer son rôle social) et sociodémographiques (comme les caractéristiques générationnelles, socioculturelles et politiques des individus). Toutefois, les découvertes récentes en sciences cognitives à propos des mécanismes élémentaires de traitement de l'information offrent un nouvel éclairage sur la génération des croyances conspirationnistes à travers les époques et les cultures. Dans cet article, nous proposons une définition de la théorie du complot et une classification des croyances complotistes pendant la pandémie de COVID-19. Nous montrons comment les mécanismes de génération et de mise à jour des croyances permettent d'expliquer la genèse des théories du complot, et nous proposons plusieurs hypothèses étayées par les recherches contemporaines en sciences cognitives et en sciences sociales à propos des théories du complot.

Level of Concern, Spending, and External Support Related to COVID-19: A Comparison between Working and Non-Working Older Adults

This study compared levels of concern, spending, and use of external support by working status among older adults in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. It assessed whether work influences these variables related to wellness. Data from 2489 older adults from the 2020 U.S. Health and Retirement Study were analyzed using multiple linear and logistic regression. Older adults who worked had lower concerns about the pandemic (β = -0.28, p = 0.048), were less likely to increase their spending (OR = 0.74, p = 0.041), and were less likely to use external support (OR = 0.50, p < 0.001). Use of external support increased with age (OR = 1.04, p < 0.001) and increased spending (OR = 1.32, p = 0.019). Married older adults were less likely to increase spending (OR = 0.75, p = 0.007) and had lower concerns toward COVID-19 (β = -0.28, p = 0.011). Higher levels of concern were reported among women (β = 0.31, p = 0.005) and participants who had friends or family members diagnosed with COVID-19 (β = 0.51, p < 0.001). Women were more likely to use support (OR = 1.80, p < 0.001). Work appears to bolster older adult wellness outcomes.

Factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic; a systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies

Background

A high COVID-19 vaccine uptake is essential to achieve herd immunity to combat the current strain of COVID-19 and potential future variants. This review aimed to identify factors associated with public intention to receive COVID-19 vaccines until February 2021 to provide accessible data to policymakers to inform framing and targeting of messages designed to optimise vaccine uptake.

Methods

Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Sociological Abstracts and Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts were searched for cross-sectional studies reporting data regarding COVID-19 vaccine intentions, published between 01/01/2020 and 12/02/2021. Title/abstract and full-text screening were performed independently by two authors. The Appraisal Tool for Cross-sectional Studies (AXIS) was used to assess bias and quality. Both random-effects meta-analysis and narrative synthesis were used to describe vaccine intentions and associated factors. A subgroup analysis assessing the impact of sex, sampling method and time of survey on COVID-19 vaccine intention was performed.

Results

Searches identified 4739 studies, and 23 cross-sectional studies were deemed eligible for the review; 22 used online surveys and one used a mixed-methods study design. Eighteen surveys were conducted in the first half of 2020 and five were conducted in the latter half of 2020. Fifteen countries were represented, with the most common being the United States (n = 4) and the United Kingdom (n = 4) sampling 41,403 participants across all surveys. Most studies employed convenience sampling and 11 non-responder rates raised concerns over non-response bias. From the 18 studies included in the meta-analysis, the pooled proportion of survey participants willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine was 73.3% (n = 18, 95% Confidence Interval 64.2 to 81.5%, I² = 99.7%). Factors associated with a higher COVID-19 vaccine acceptance included greater perceived risk of COVID-19, lower level of perceived vaccine harm, higher educational attainment and household income, older age, being of White ethnicity and male sex.

Conclusions

There was a high willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine which was influenced by sociodemographic factors and risk perceptions. The findings suggest future research should explore reasoning behind vaccine intentions for different sociodemographic groups to allow targeted communication strategies to be formulated by public health agencies.

Registration

PROSPERO Registration Number: CRD42021239134.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-14029-4.

Political ideology and pandemic lifestyles: the indirect effects of empathy, authoritarianism, and threat

Background

In this paper, we integrate theory and research from sociology, psychology, and political science to develop and test a mediation model that helps to explain why political conservatism is often associated with pandemic behaviors and lifestyles that are inconsistent with public health recommendations for COVID-19.

Methods

Using national data from the 2021 Crime, Health, and Politics Survey (n = 1743), we formally test the indirect effects of political conservatism (an index of Republican party identification, conservative political orientation, right-wing news media consumption, and 2020 Trump vote) on pandemic lifestyles (an index of social distancing, hand sanitizing, mask usage, and vaccination) through the mechanisms of empathy (concern about the welfare of others), authoritarian beliefs (authoritarian aggressiveness and acquiescence to authority), and pandemic threat perceptions (threats to self and to the broader society).

Result

Our results confirm that political conservatism is associated with riskier pandemic lifestyles. We also find that this association is partially mediated by lower levels of empathy, higher levels of authoritarian beliefs, and lower levels of perceived pandemic threat.

Conclusions

Understanding why political conservatism is associated with riskier pandemic lifestyles may eventually lead us to ways of identifying and overcoming widespread cultural barriers to critical pandemic responses.

Exploring the Relationship between COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal and Belief in Fake News and Conspiracy Theories: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study in Italy

The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an infodemic, which includes fake news (FNs) and conspiracy theories (CTs), and which may worsen vaccine refusal (VR), thus hindering the control of the transmission. This study primarily aimed to assess COVID-19 VR in Italy and its relationship with belief in FNs/CTs. Secondarily, it explored the conviction in FNs and CTs and associated variables. An online cross-sectional study was conducted in Italy (2021). The primary outcome was VR and secondary outcomes were FN misclassification score (0% to 100%: higher score means higher misclassification) and CT belief score (1 to 5: higher score means higher agreement). There were 1517 participants; 12.3% showed VR. The median FN and CT scores were: 46.7% (IQR = 40–56.7%) and 2.8 (IQR = 2.2–3.4). Age, education, FN, and CT scores had significant associations with VR. Education, economic situation, health and e-health literacy showed significant relationships with secondary outcomes. Study/work background had a significant association only with the FN score. FN and CT scores were associated. This work estimated a VR lower than before the first COVID-19 vaccine approval. The relationship between VR and FN/CT belief represents a new scenario, suggesting the need for planning effective strategies to tackle FNs and CTs to implement successful vaccination campaigns.

Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: A systematic review

RATIONALE

Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories can have severe consequences; it is therefore crucial to understand this phenomenon, in its similarities with general conspiracy belief, but also in how it is context-dependent.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this systematic review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the available research on COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and to synthesise this research to make it widely accessible.

METHODS

We present a synthesis of COVID-19 conspiracy belief research from 85 international articles, identified and appraised through a systematic review, in line with contemporary protocols and guidelines for systematic reviews.

RESULTS

We identify a number of potential antecedents of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs (individual differences, personality traits, demographic variables, attitudes, thinking styles and biases, group identity, trust in authorities, and social media use), their consequences (protective behaviours, self-centred and misguided behaviours such as hoarding and pseudoscientific health practices, vaccination intentions, psychological wellbeing, and other negative social consequences such as discrimination and violence), and the effect sizes of their relations with the conspiracy beliefs.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that understanding both the potential antecedents and consequences of conspiracy beliefs and how they are context-dependent is highly important to tackle them, whether in the COVID-19 pandemic or future threats, such as that of climate change.

Trust in scientific information mediates associations between conservatism and coronavirus responses in the U.S., but few other nations

U.S.-based research suggests conservatism is linked with less concern about contracting coronavirus and less preventative behaviors to avoid infection. Here, we investigate whether these tendencies are partly attributable to distrust in scientific information, and evaluate whether they generalize outside the U.S., using public data and recruited representative samples across three studies (N_total = 34,710). In Studies 1 and 2, we examine these relationships in the U.S., yielding converging evidence for a sequential indirect effect of conservatism on compliance through scientific (dis)trust and infection concern. In Study 3, we compare these relationships across 19 distinct countries. Although the relationships between trust in scientific information about the coronavirus, concern about coronavirus infection, and compliance are consistent cross-nationally, the relationships between conservatism and trust in scientific information are not. These relationships are strongest in North America. Consequently, the indirect effects observed in Studies 1–2 only replicate in North America (the U.S. and Canada) and in Indonesia. Study 3 also found parallel direct and indirect effects on support for lockdown restrictions. These associations suggest not only that relationships between conservatism and compliance are not universal, but localized to particular countries where conservatism is more strongly related to trust in scientific information about the coronavirus pandemic.

Vaccine Hesitancy and Fear of COVID-19 Among Italian Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Medical students are in close contact with patients and should adhere to the same recommendations as healthcare workers. The study aimed to explore medical students' hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccine and evaluate fear of COVID-19 and its relationship with hesitancy. A cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst a sample of medical students attending clinical years (November 2020–February 2021, Italy). Multivariable regressions were performed (p < 0.05 as significant). A total of 929 students participated (58.6% of eligible students). Hesitancy was reported by 6.7%; extreme fear of COVID-19 by 42.0%. Among hesitancy predictors, there were the survey completion before COVID-19 vaccine authorisation (adjOR = 6.43), adverse reactions after a vaccination (adjOR = 3.30), and receiving advice against COVID-19 vaccination from a relative (adjOR = 2.40). Students who received the recommended paediatric vaccinations (adjOR = 0.10), students with higher adherence to preventive measures (adjOR = 0.98), and students with fear of contracting COVID-19 with regard to the health of loved ones (adjOR = 0.17) were less likely to be hesitant. Females (adjOR = 1.85), students with poor health (adjOR = 1.64), students who had a loved one severely affected by COVID-19 (adjOR = 1.68), and students with fear of contracting flu (adjOR = 3.06) had a higher likelihood of reporting extreme fear. Hesitancy was remarkably lower than in similar studies. However, there is room for improvement in university activities that could deepen the competence in vaccines. Our focus on fear should not be overlooked, since the extent of extreme fear that we found might represent a substantial burden, considering the associations between fear and other health outcomes.

Facilitators and Barriers of COVID-19 Vaccine Promotion on Social Media in the United States: A Systematic Review

Background and Objectives: Information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic has spread internationally through a variety of platforms, including social media. While efforts have been made to help reduce the spread of misinformation on social media, many platforms are still largely unregulated. The influence of social media use on vaccination promotion is not fully understood. This systematic review aims to identify facilitators and barriers associated with vaccine promotion through social media use. Materials and Methods: Reviewers analyzed 25 articles and identified common themes. Facilitators of vaccine promotion included an increase in the efforts of social media companies to reduce misinformation, the use of social media to spread information on public health and vaccine promotion, and the positive influence towards vaccinations of family and friends. Results and Conclusions: Identified barriers to vaccine promotion included the spread of misinformation, decreased vaccine acceptance among users of social media for COVID-19 related information due to polarization, and a lack of regulation on social media platforms. The results of this review provide insight for improving public health campaign promotion on social media and can help inform policy on social media regulation and misinformation prevention.

Authoritarianism and perceived threat from the novel coronavirus

The threat of COVID‐19 has triggered nationalism, prejudice and support for anti‐democratic political systems around the world. Authoritarianism—an individual's orientation toward social conformity and individual autonomy—shapes interpretations of and responses to threat. We drew on theories of authoritarianism and threat to propose that authoritarians and libertarians will interpret the threat of COVID‐19 in distinct ways. An online survey of 368 Scottish nationals was administered via the Prolific platform. Original measures of realistic and symbolic threat from COVID‐19 were included, along with an established measure of the authoritarian predisposition. Linear regression analyses showed that COVID‐19 was perceived primarily as a realistic threat to physical and material well‐being; however, authoritarians were more likely than others to interpret the novel coronavirus as a symbolic threat to their prevailing values. Our findings contribute to understanding the psychology of pandemic‐era attitudes and behaviours and provide insight into possible political consequences of the coronavirus threat. The results also demonstrate how considering authoritarians' subjective construal of threats can resolve questions in the authoritarianism and threat literature and advance theory.

Barriers and facilitators of willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19: Role of prosociality, authoritarianism and conspiracy mentality. A four-wave longitudinal study

Aim

We investigated longitudinal relations between individual willingness to undergo vaccination against COVID-19 and three social factors: conspiracy mentality, prosociality, and authoritarianism.

Method

This longitudinal study comprised four measurement points. The first wave sample included 1130 responses and was representative of the Polish population in terms of gender, age, and place of residence. Analyses were performed using random intercept cross-lagged panel models.

Results

We observed bidirectional positive cross-lagged relationships between prosociality and willingness to undergo vaccination in the first three waves of measurement. Authoritarianism and conspiracy mentality translated into a lower willingness to vaccinate between the third and fourth points of measurement when the vaccination became a near-term possibility.

Conclusions

Eliciting prosocial motivation to vaccinate can be paramount in overcoming vaccine hesitancy. Because conspiracy thinking may be a crucial barrier to willingness to be vaccinated, it is critical to focus on planning interventions and campaigns undermining conspiracy theories about COVID-19.

Sex disparities in COVID-19 outcomes in the United States: Quantifying and contextualizing variation

This paper presents the first longitudinal study of sex disparities in COVID-19 cases and mortalities across U.S. states, derived from the unique 13-month dataset of the U.S. Gender/Sex COVID-19 Data Tracker. To analyze sex disparities, weekly case and mortality rates by sex and mortality rate ratios were computed for each U.S. state, and a multilevel crossed-effects conditional logistic binomial regression model was fitted to estimate the variation of the sex disparity in mortality over time and across states. Results demonstrate considerable variation in the sex disparity in COVID-19 cases and mortalities over time and between states. These data suggest that the sex disparity, when present, is modest, and likely varies in relation to context-sensitive variables, which may include health behaviors, preexisting health status, occupation, race/ethnicity, and other markers of social experience.

Transdiagnostic Mechanisms of Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic on Adults and Families in Germany: Study Protocol of a Cross-Sectional and 1-Year Longitudinal Study

Background: Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, psychological distress is increased. Transdiagnostic mechanisms, including trauma, personality functioning, mentalizing and emotion regulation are considered relevant to the development and maintenance of mental health problems and therefore may play a role in individuals’ reactions to the pandemic.

Aim: To identify moderating and mediating factors associated with pandemic-related distress and mental health problems in adults and families, we aim to investigate the interactions of interpersonal trauma (childhood trauma and domestic violence), psychological capacities (personality functioning, mentalizing and emotion regulation) and pandemic-related adversity on psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we aim to investigate behavioral and cognitive consequences of the pandemic (e.g., media consumption, vaccination status, conspiracy beliefs).

Methods: Using an online-based cross-sectional and longitudinal design, we will investigate a sample of adult participants recruited via online platforms in German-speaking countries over the course of 1 year with four measurements points via self-report instruments (personality functioning: PID5BF +; mentalizing: MentS, PRFQ; emotion regulation: DERS-SF; mental health problems: PHQ-9, GAD-7; a composite pandemic-related stress score). Structural equation and multi-level modeling will be performed for data analyses.

Implications: This study will provide data on the moderating and mediating effects of trauma, personality functioning and mentalizing during the pandemic in a large community sample, particularly on vulnerable groups like families. Identifying transdiagnostic mechanisms of psychopathology in the course of a pandemic crisis may provide valuable insight for the development of pre- and intervention measures for potential psychological distress during and post the pandemic.

Irrational Beliefs about COVID-19: A Scoping Review

Since the emergence of the recent Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) and its spread as a pandemic, there has been a parallel spread of false and misleading information, known as an infodemic. The COVID-19 infodemic has induced distrust in scientific communities, governments, institutions and the population, and a confidence crisis that has led to harmful health behaviours, also impacting on mental health. The aim of this study is to provide a scoping review of the scientific literature about COVID-19-related misinformation and conspiracy theories, focusing on the construction of a conceptual framework which is useful for the interpretation of the conspiracy theory phenomenon surrounding COVID-19, and its consequences. Particular socio-environmental conditions (i.e., low educational level, younger age), psychological processes and attitudes (such as low levels of epistemic trust, the avoidance of uncertainty, extraversion, collective narcissism, and a conspiracy-prone mindset), and contextual factors (e.g., high levels of self-perceived risk and anxiety) seem to underpin the adherence to beliefs that are not solely the domain of paranoids and extremists but a widespread phenomenon that has caused important health, social and political consequences.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the search for structure: Social media and conspiracy theories

The study outlines a model for how the COVID-19 pandemic has uniquely exacerbated the propagation of conspiracy beliefs and subsequent harmful behaviors. The pandemic has led to widespread disruption of cognitive and social structures. As people face these disruptions they turn online seeking alternative cognitive and social structures. Once there, social media radicalizes beliefs, increasing contagion (rapid spread) and stickiness (resistance to change) of conspiracy theories. As conspiracy theories are reinforced in online communities, social norms develop, translating conspiracy beliefs into real-world action. These real-world exchanges are then posted back on social media, where they are further reinforced and amplified, and the cycle continues. In the broader population, this process draws attention to conspiracy theories and those who confidently espouse them. This attention can drive perceptions that conspiracy beliefs are less fringe and more popular, potentially normalizing such beliefs for the mainstream. We conclude by considering interventions and future research to address this seemingly intractable problem.

COVID-19 Pandemic on Fire: Evolved Propensities for Nocturnal Activities as a Liability Against Epidemiological Control

Humans have been using fire for hundreds of millennia, creating an ancestral expansion toward the nocturnal niche. The new adaptive challenges faced at night were recurrent enough to amplify existing psychological variation in our species. Night-time is dangerous and mysterious, so it selects for individuals with higher tendencies for paranoia, risk-taking, and sociability (because of security in numbers). During night-time, individuals are generally tired and show decreased self-control and increased impulsive behaviors. The lower visibility during night-time favors the partial concealment of identity and opens more opportunities for disinhibition of self-interested behaviors. Indeed, individuals with an evening-oriented chronotype are more paranoid, risk-taking, extraverted, impulsive, promiscuous, and have higher antisocial personality traits. However, under some circumstances, such as respiratory pandemics, the psychobehavioral traits favored by the nocturnal niche might be counter-productive, increasing contagion rates of a disease that can evade the behavioral immune system because its disease cues are often nonexistent or mild. The eveningness epidemiological liability hypothesis presented here suggests that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the evening-oriented psychobehavioral profile can have collectively harmful consequences: there is a clash of core tendencies between the nocturnal chronotype and the recent viral transmission-mitigating safety guidelines and rules. The pandemic safety protocols disrupt much normal social activity, particularly at night when making new social contacts is desired. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is contagious even in presymptomatic and asymptomatic individuals, which enables it to mostly evade our evolved contagious disease avoidance mechanisms. A growing body of research has indirectly shown that individual traits interfering with social distancing and anti-contagion measures are related to those of the nocturnal chronotype. Indeed, some of the social contexts that have been identified as superspreading events occur at night, such as in restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. Furthermore, nocturnal environmental conditions favor the survival of the SARS-CoV-2 virus much longer than daytime conditions. We compare the eveningness epidemiological liability hypothesis with other factors related to non-compliance with pandemic safety protocols, namely sex, age, and life history. Although there is not yet a direct link between the nocturnal chronotype and non-compliance with pandemic safety protocols, security measures and future empirical research should take this crucial evolutionary mismatch and adaptive metaproblem into account, and focus on how to avoid nocturnal individuals becoming superspreaders, offering secure alternatives for nocturnal social activities.

Noncompliance With Safety Guidelines as a Free-Riding Strategy: An Evolutionary Game-Theoretic Approach to Cooperation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Evolutionary game theory and public goods games offer an important framework to understand cooperation during pandemics. From this perspective, the COVID-19 situation can be conceptualized as a dilemma where people who neglect safety precautions act as free riders, because they get to enjoy the benefits of decreased health risk from others' compliance with policies despite not contributing to or even undermining public safety themselves. At the same time, humans appear to carry a suite of evolved psychological mechanisms aimed at curbing free riding in order to ensure the continued provision of public goods, which can be leveraged to develop more effective measures to promote compliance with regulations. We also highlight factors beyond free riding that reduce compliance rates, such as the emergence of conspiratorial thinking, which seriously undermine the effectiveness of measures to suppress free riding. Together, the current paper outlines the social dynamics that occur in public goods dilemmas involving the spread of infectious disease, highlights the utility and limits of evolutionary game-theoretic approaches for COVID-19 management, and suggests novel directions based on emerging challenges to cooperation.

Pandemic Leadership: Sex Differences and Their Evolutionary-Developmental Origins

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global societal, economic, and social upheaval unseen in living memory. There have been substantial cross-national differences in the kinds of policies implemented by political decision-makers to prevent the spread of the virus, to test the population, and to manage infected patients. Among other factors, these policies vary with politicians' sex: early findings indicate that, on average, female leaders seem more focused on minimizing direct human suffering caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, while male leaders implement riskier short-term decisions, possibly aiming to minimize economic disruptions. These sex differences are consistent with broader findings in psychology, reflecting women's stronger empathy, higher pathogen disgust, health concern, care-taking orientation, and dislike for the suffering of other people-as well as men's higher risk-taking, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and focus on financial indicators of success and status. This review article contextualizes sex differences in pandemic leadership in an evolutionary framework. Evolution by natural selection is the only known process in nature that organizes organisms into higher degrees of functional order, or counteracts the unavoidable disorder that would otherwise ensue, and is therefore essential for explaining the origins of human sex differences. Differential sexual selection and parental investment between males and females, together with the sexual differentiation of the mammalian brain, drive sex differences in cognition and behavioral dispositions, underlying men's and women's leadership styles and decision-making during a global pandemic. According to the sexually dimorphic leadership specialization hypothesis, general psychobehavioral sex differences have been exapted during human evolution to create sexually dimorphic leadership styles. They may be facultatively co-opted by societies and/or followers when facing different kinds of ecological and/or sociopolitical threats, such as disease outbreaks or intergroup aggression. Early evidence indicates that against the invisible viral foe that can bring nations to their knees, the strategic circumspection of empathic feminine health "worriers" may bring more effective and humanitarian outcomes than the devil-may-care incaution of masculine risk-taking "warriors".

Differences in rapid increases in county-level COVID-19 incidence by implementation of statewide closures and mask mandates - United States, June 1-September 30, 2020

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Community mitigation strategies could help reduce COVID-19 incidence, but there are few studies that explore associations nationally and by urbanicity. In a national county-level analysis, we examined the probability of being identified as a county with rapidly increasing COVID-19 incidence (rapid riser identification) during the summer of 2020 by implementation of mitigation policies prior to the summer, overall and by urbanicity.

METHODS

We analyzed county-level data on rapid riser identification during June 1-September 30, 2020 and statewide closures and statewide mask mandates starting March 19 (obtained from state government websites). Poisson regression models with robust standard error estimation were used to examine differences in the probability of rapid riser identification by implementation of mitigation policies (P-value< .05); associations were adjusted for county population size.

RESULTS

Counties in states that closed for 0-59 days were more likely to become a rapid riser county than those that closed for >59 days, particularly in nonmetropolitan areas. The probability of becoming a rapid riser county was 43% lower among counties that had statewide mask mandates at reopening (adjusted prevalence ratio = 0.57; 95% confidence intervals = 0.51-0.63); when stratified by urbanicity, associations were more pronounced in nonmetropolitan areas.

CONCLUSIONS

These results underscore the potential value of community mitigation strategies in limiting the COVID-19 spread, especially in nonmetropolitan areas.