The countries of the post-communist space and Western Europe met the coronavirus pandemic differently, said Dmitry Dubrov, a researcher at the Center for Sociocultural Research at the Higher School of Economics. According to him, the difference lies in the level of trust in the authorities and the prevalence of conspiracy theories regarding COVID-19.

Conspiracy theorists

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the population of the post-communist countries of Europe believed more in conspiracy theories about the coronavirus than residents of Western European countries. This was stated by Dmitry Dubrov, a researcher at the HSE Center for Sociocultural Research, co-author of the article “Stress and anxiety in connection with the 2020 coronavirus pandemic: the relationship between trust and compliance with preventive measures in 48 countries” as part of the COVIDiSTRESS project.

According to him, the reason for the widespread spread of conspiracy theories about COVID-19 in post-communist countries was the low level of trust in the authorities and international organizations such as WHO.

The difference in the level of trust in the authorities in Eastern Europe and Western Europe is due to several factors, Dubrov continued.

“It is important to take into account the history of a particular country. Perhaps the reason lies in the change in the ideals of society, that is, at first people believed in the ideals of communism and socialism, and then after the fall of the Berlin Wall, everything had to be rethought. It can also be related to the level of the country's economy, GDP. There may be different explanations, both economic and psychological. This requires a separate study,” the expert noted.

“In general, people with a low institutional level of trust are more popular with conspiracy theories about COVID-19, that it is invented and does not exist. Accordingly, the restrictive measures in the post-communist countries were not enforced as well as in the countries of Western Europe.

Let me emphasize that we are talking about the first days of the pandemic, about 2020. Now the situation may be different,” said Dubrov.

Vladimir Budanov, head of the scientific and technological development sector of the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, shares the same opinion.

“The spread of conspiracy theories about coronavirus is a consequence of the mentality of people. In post-communist countries, the attitude to power is cautious. In Western European countries, people trust the authorities more, so there were fewer conspiracy theories.

The low level of trust in the authorities is also easy to explain. When there is massive advertising, intimidation, manipulation, naturally, people have a corresponding reaction, ”the interlocutor believes.

Dubrov also noted another pattern: the more severe restrictions were introduced in European countries, the higher the level of trust in the authorities was among people.

“First of all, it has to do with stress. In this state, a person is more prone to emotions and tends not to analyze what is happening around so carefully. Therefore, under this influence, people increased confidence in the efforts of the government, especially when the measures taken were more stringent. In this case, they shifted the responsibility to the government - it knows how best, we just need to comply with everything, ”says Dmitry Dubrov.

Soviet and Russian sociologist Viktor Levashov explained this pattern by saying that in 2020 people were not ready to face the pandemic.

“In 2020, the situation was unusual - it was not just a seasonal flu, it was a pandemic. And everyone saw in practice that people get sick and die. When acquaintances began to leave, everyone immediately realized that this was serious, and the attitude changed. And if the state takes the current situation seriously, then ordinary people will do the same, then the degree of security in society will be high, ”Lavashov believes.

What about other countries?

Viktor Levashov noted in a conversation with that in Russia there was no low level of trust in the actions of the authorities and international organizations.

“If we talk about Russia, then, according to our data, over 50% of citizens approved of the actions of the authorities in the fight against coronavirus. This was, of course, not the case in all countries. We have always listened to medical recommendations,” Levashov explained.

In addition, the COVIDiSTRESS study showed that in the countries of Western Europe, the level of stress and anxiety among the population was high. At the same time, the population of Turkey, Portugal, Poland, the Philippines, Bulgaria and Brazil did not experience much stress due to the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is worth noting that stress refers to a feeling of lack of control over the events caused by the pandemic, pressure from the current situation, as well as disappointment.

“Due to lockdowns and various restrictions, people’s plans changed, trips were disrupted, that is, everyone had to rebuild their lives. And all this was accompanied by similar psychological reactions,” said Dubrov. According to him, stress, trust and willingness to comply with restrictions are interconnected. The higher the level of trust, the more carefully people are ready to comply with the restrictions imposed by the authorities.

“In general, the post-communist countries met the pandemic in much the same way as Western Europe, in terms of the level of stress. People were definitely worried, but they were primarily concerned about the state of the economy, and only in second place was the fear of death and hospitalization,” the expert said.

At the same time, all of the listed countries faced a low level of compliance with behavioral norms. At the same time, the population of Asia proved to be the most disciplined. According to Dubrov, this is primarily due to the cultural and historical aspect.

“If we look at Asian countries, such as China and Japan, then there people are more disciplined in relation to all restrictions. They calmly accepted them, as they had already experienced outbreaks of Ebola, bird flu, and swine flu and were used to the restrictions being introduced. Modern Europe has not known such pandemics since the time of the Spanish flu, which raged in the 20s of the last century, ”the interlocutor explained.

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