{"id":9493,"date":"2020-07-24T10:00:08","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T15:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/a-look-at-the-americans-who-believe-there-is-some-truth-to-the-conspiracy-theory-that-covid-19-was-planned\/"},"modified":"2024-04-13T23:44:23","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T04:44:23","slug":"a-look-at-the-americans-who-believe-there-is-some-truth-to-the-conspiracy-theory-that-covid-19-was-planned","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/07\/24\/a-look-at-the-americans-who-believe-there-is-some-truth-to-the-conspiracy-theory-that-covid-19-was-planned\/","title":{"rendered":"A look at the Americans who believe there is some truth to the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was planned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Most Americans (71%) have heard of a conspiracy theory<\/a> circulating widely online that alleges that powerful people intentionally planned the coronavirus outbreak<\/a>. And a quarter of U.S. adults see at least some truth in it \u2013 including 5% who say it is definitely true and 20% who say it is probably true, according to a June Pew Research Center survey<\/a>. The share of Americans who see at least some truth to the theory differs by demographics and partisanship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educational attainment is an especially important factor when it comes to perceptions of the conspiracy theory. Around half of Americans with a high school diploma or less education (48%) say the theory is probably or definitely true, according to the survey, which was conducted as part of the Center\u2019s American News Pathways project<\/a>. That compares with 38% of those who have completed some college but have no degree, 24% of those with a bachelor\u2019s degree and 15% of those with a postgraduate degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How we did this<\/div>