Analele Universității din București. Științe Politice [Annals of the University of Bucharest. Political Science series] ISSN 1582-2486 Vol. XXIII, No. 1 (online first) DOI: 10.54885/NWGI2184 © The author(s) 2021 COVID-19 CONSPIRACY BELIEFS AMONG ROMANIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS Oana LUP Elena Cristina MITREA Abstract This article explores factors that affect the strength of beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories drawing on data collected in an online survey of undergraduate and graduate students from Romanian universities. The results indicate that students with lower socio-economic status, lower levels of news consumption in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, who rely primarily on information from television and discussions to their peers, as well as those with lower levels of education/analytical skills are more susceptible to endorsing conspiracy theories regarding the origin and the nature of COVID-19. Education, analytical skills, and exposure to high quality media information appear to equip students with the necessary tools to critically assess COVID-19-related conspiracies. Given the link between conspiracy belief and health behaviors in the context of the pandemic, these results point to the importance of analytical skills and media regulation for curbing misinformation in societal contexts of heightened uncertainty, confusion, and existential threat. Keywords: conspiracy beliefs, COVID-19, Romania, Central and Eastern Europe, postcommunism, university students, news consumption, analytical skills, scientific literacy In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, conspiracy theories about the origin, impact, and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have proliferated on social media platforms and the internet. Some of the most notable include the virus being a bioweapon designed in China, intentionally spread around the world for economic gains, of greatly exaggerated impact, not different from the common flu, or even a hoax entirely (Frankovic 2020). While the situation generated by the pandemic has provided a breeding ground for the development of new variants of conspiracy theories, conspiratorial belief has been around for quite some time and has made the object of extensive research (e.g., Sunstein & Vermeule 2009; the European Journal of Social Psychology 2018 special issue, introduced by van Prooijen & Douglas 2018). As previous studies have indicated, conspiracy belief increases especially in contexts of heightened collective stress, anxiety, uncertainty, confusion, and existential threat, such as situations of societal crisis, caused by natural disasters (floods, earthquakes, fires), epidemics, civil unrest, violence, terrorism, and war (van Prooijen & Douglas 2017). Far from merely false and trivial, conspiracy theories can prove to be dangerous and harmful. They are consequential to people’s attitudes and behavior in key aspects of their life, such as health, safety, and relationships, and can have negative societal consequences. For instance, experimental studies report that participants who were exposed to conspiracy theories about global warming and climate change were less confident in the scientific consensus on climate change, less willing to participate in and sign a petition against global warming, donate to charity, volunteer (van der Linden 2015), or reduce their carbon footprint (Jolley & Douglas 2014a). Similarly, exposure to materials in support of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories has been associated with decreased intentions to vaccinate (Jolley & Douglas 2014b) and fears concerning the safety of vaccines inflamed by conspiracy theories