Story perspectives

Frustrated Autonomy Increases COVID Conspiracy Belief, Study Finds

4/27/2026

Summary

Story summary

Marie-Jeanne Leonard and Frederick L. Philippe found autonomy-frustrating memories boosted COVID-19 conspiracy endorsement.
Study 1 with 141 Quebec adults showed that higher autonomy frustration after mask-restriction stories predicted greater conspiracy endorsement a week later.
Study 2 with 213 Quebec residents used a subliminal autonomy-frustrating prime, which increased agreement, anger and willingness to share the bogus theory.
Authors warned that selection bias and focus on COVID-19 conspiracies may limit generalizability.

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Story summary

Marie-Jeanne Leonard and Frederick L. Philippe found autonomy-frustrating memories boosted COVID-19 conspiracy endorsement.
Study 1 with 141 Quebec adults showed that higher autonomy frustration after mask-restriction stories predicted greater conspiracy endorsement a week later.
Study 2 with 213 Quebec residents used a subliminal autonomy-frustrating prime, which increased agreement, anger and willingness to share the bogus theory.
Authors warned that selection bias and focus on COVID-19 conspiracies may limit generalizability.