Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33546144›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021

COVID-19 and the Political Economy of Mass Hysteria.

Philipp Bagus, José Antonio Peña-Ramos, Antonio Sánchez-Bayón

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
33citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
17.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

33 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 121 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Mass hysteria attack rates in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis.The Journal of international medical research · 2021
    Pooled it
  3. Risks and benefits of face masks in children.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026
    Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Rejoinder 2: Educating kids during a pandemic: More "farmers," fewer experts.Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry = Journal de l'Academie canadienne de psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent · 2023
    Article
  12. Article
  13. COVID-19 pandemic and hypertension: an updated report from the Japanese Society of Hypertension project team on COVID-19.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2023
    Review
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Are Lockdowns Effective in Managing Pandemics?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Philipp BagusDepartment of Applied Economics I, History and Economic Institutions and Moral Philosophy, Social and Legal Sciences Faculty, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28033 Madrid, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-8233-6629
José Antonio Peña-RamosFaculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Providencia 7500912, Chile.ORCID 0000-0001-7073-9562
Antonio Sánchez-BayónDepartment of Business Economics (ADO), Applied Economics II, and Fundamentals of Economic Analysis, Social and Legal Sciences Faculty, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28033 Madrid, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-4855-8356
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos · ESUniversidad de Granada · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In this article, we aim to develop a political economy of mass hysteria. Using the background of COVID-19, we study past mass hysteria. Negative information which is spread through mass media repetitively can affect public health negatively in the form of nocebo effects and mass hysteria. We argue that mass and digital media in connection with the state may have had adverse consequences during the COVID-19 crisis. The resulting collective hysteria may have contributed to policy errors by governments not in line with health recommendations. While mass hysteria can occur in societies with a minimal state, we show that there exist certain self-corrective mechanisms and limits to the harm inflicted, such as sacrosanct private property rights. However, mass hysteria can be exacerbated and self-reinforcing when the negative information comes from an authoritative source, when the media are politicized, and social networks make the negative information omnipresent. We conclude that the negative long-term effects of mass hysteria are exacerbated by the size of the state.

Indexed as

GovernmentHysteriaMass MediaCommunicationCOVID-19Health PolicyHumansInternetPoliticsanxietycontagionCOVID-19culture of fearemotional contagiongroupthinklaw and economicsmass hysteriamass medianocebo effectspolicy errorpolitical economypublic healthsocial media

Identifiers

PMID33546144
PMCPMC7913136
OpenAlexW3126723964

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.