The COVID-19 pandemic has been an ideal breeding ground for conspiracy theories. Yet, different beliefs could have different implications for individuals’ emotional responses, which in turn could relate to different behaviours and specifically to either a greater or lesser compliance with social distancing and health-protective measures. In the present research, we investigated the links between COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, emotions (anger, anxiety, and hope), attitudes towards government restrictions, and self-reported compliant behaviour. Results of a cross-sectional survey amongst a large UK sample (N = 1,579) provided support for the hypothesis that COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs showed a polarizing relationship with compliant behaviour through opposing emotional pathways. The relation was mediated by higher levels of anger, themselves related to a lesser perceived importance of government restrictions, and simultaneous higher levels of anxiety, related to a greater perceived importance. Hope was also related to conspiracy beliefs and to greater perceived importance but played a weaker role in the mediational model. Results suggest that the behavioural correlates of conspiracy beliefs might not be straightforward, and highlight the importance of considering the emotional states such beliefs might elicit when investigating their potential impact.

COVID-19 大流行一直是阴谋论的理想温床。然而，不同的信念可能对个人的情绪反应产生不同的影响，这反过来又可能与不同的行为有关，特别是与社会疏远和健康保护措施的遵守程度有关。在本研究中，我们调查了 COVID-19 阴谋信念、情绪（愤怒、焦虑和希望）、对政府限制的态度以及自我报告的顺从行为之间的联系。在英国大样本中进行的横断面调查结果（N = 1,579）为 COVID-19 阴谋信念通过相反的情感途径与顺从行为表现出两极分化的假设提供了支持。这种关系是由更高水平的愤怒调节的，它们本身与政府限制的较低感知重要性相关，同时更高水平的焦虑与更高感知的重要性相关。希望也与阴谋信念和更大的感知重要性有关，但在中介模型中的作用较弱。结果表明，阴谋信念的行为相关性可能并不简单，并强调了在调查其潜在影响时考虑此类信念可能引发的情绪状态的重要性。