Confinement, social networks, anxiety, sometimes contradictory injunctions on the part of the authorities, this period of crisis of the coronavirus is favorable for the followers of conspiracy theories.
According to an Ifop study published on Saturday, more than a quarter (26%) of French people believe that the new coronavirus was manufactured in the laboratory, including 17% "intentionally", and the latter figure jumped to 40% among supporters of the National Gathering.
Coronavirus has "appeared naturally" for 57% of French people, but 17% think that it was developed "intentionally" in a laboratory "and 9% that it was produced" accidentally "in the laboratory, while 17 % do not comment, according to the study carried out for the Jean-Jaurès foundation and the Conspiracy Watch Observatory.
Only 2% of LREM sympathizers believe in laboratory theory
In terms of political proximity, RN sympathizers stand out since 40% believe that this virus was "intentionally" produced in the laboratory, and 15% "accidentally". 29% think it "appeared naturally".
Conversely, supporters of the Republic on the move are only 2% who think that the virus was made "intentionally" in the laboratory, and 7% "accidentally". Some 84% think it "appeared naturally".
Ifop conducted this study after the publication of a similar survey by the Pew Research Center conducted in the United States from March 10 to 16. According to this study cited by Ifop, 29% of Americans think that the coronavirus was made in the laboratory (23% "intentionally" and 6% "accidentally"), against 43% who think that it appeared naturally. Some 25% do not comment.
The youngest and most disadvantaged
Rudy Reichstadt, founder of Conspiracy Watch, and Jérôme Fourquet, director of the opinion and business strategies division at Ifop, conclude that the French are "not much less conspiratorial than the Americans on the origin of the new coronavirus".
The study also confirms previous surveys which showed that "the youngest generations and the most disadvantaged social categories remain the most susceptible to conspiracy". Thus, 27% of those under 35 believe that the virus was developed "intentionally" in a laboratory against only 6% of those over 65.
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The poor categories are 22% believing that the virus was made "intentionally" in the laboratory, while the easy categories are only 4%.
The Ifop survey was conducted online from March 24 to 26, using a sample of 1,008 people over the age of 18, using the quota method.