Description

Over the last several weeks, we all have been living in what is likely to be the most historic story of the 21st century. As I type this, (April 16th) there are over 640,000 total cases of COVID-19 in the United States (2.0 million cases globally), with over 30,000 deaths in the U.S. (close to 138,000 globally).  

From a social psychological perspective, it is fascinating to examine how the attitudes of Americans have formed as the virus has spread across the globe.  Despite warnings from health experts months ago, a surprising number of Americans subscribe to “conspiracy theories” about the virus, including theories that Dr. Fauci (the leading infectious disease expert) has encouraged “shutting down the economy” as a way to hurt the present administration, and that the virus is “fake” and the pandemic “manufactured”.   How can we begin to explain the social psychology behind subscribing to these conspiracy theories?  

**Note:  This assignment is not meant to be political, but rather to explore the social psychology of conspiracy theories in the age of COVID-19.  Please do not incorporate your politics into your paper.   

1-Please visit the following websites:

https://www.vox.com/covid-19-coronavirus-us-response-trump/2020/4/12/21217646/pew-study-coronavirus-origins-conspiracy-theory-media

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/a-fake-pandemic-antivaxxers-are-spreading-coronavirus-conspiracy-theories/

2-Explain clearly how Cognitive Dissonance Theory might explain the adherence to conspiracy theories such as these.  Can you explain belief in conspiracy theories in any other way, using social psychological theory?  If so, explain.

3-Do the statistics (1/3 of Americans believe conspiracy theories; first website) surprise you?  Why or why not?  

4-In addition to the vast numbers of illnesses and deaths due to COVID-19, an unfortunate effect of the virus has been the increased numbers of violent incidents, hate speech and harm against Asian Americans.  How might social psychology explain these behaviors? Explain clearly.

5-We have talked about effective ways of changing attitudes via advertisements, speeches, etc. Below are links to a Trump 2020 and Biden 2020 campaign ad.  Watch both and then describe the elements of effective persuasion we have discussed in class that are present in ONE of the ads (your choice).  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrRcmDxMLKc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hggux80pCWw