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Mediation Analysis of Conspiratorial Thinking and Anti-Expert Sentiments on Vaccine Willingness

Blackburn, Angélique M.; Han, Hyemin; Gelpí, Rebekah A.; Stöckli, Sabrina; Jeftić, Alma; Ch’ng, Brendan; Koszałkowska, Karolina; Lacko, David; Milfont, Taciano L.; Lee, Yookyung; Vestergren, Sara

Authors

Angélique M. Blackburn

Hyemin Han

Rebekah A. Gelpí

Sabrina Stöckli

Alma Jeftić

Brendan Ch’ng

Karolina Koszałkowska

David Lacko

Taciano L. Milfont

Yookyung Lee



Contributors

Thao P. Tran
Research Group

Siobhán M. Griffin
Research Group

Evangelos Ntontis
Research Group

Stavroula Chrona
Research Group

Gözde Ikizer
Research Group

Douglas Parry
Research Group

Grace Byrne
Research Group

Mercedes Gómez-López
Research Group

Alida Acosta
Research Group

Marta Kowal
Research Group

Gabriel De Leon
Research Group

Aranza Gallegos
Research Group

Miles Perez
Research Group

Mohamed Abdelrahman
Research Group

Elayne Ahern
Research Group

Ahmad Wali Ahmad Yar
Research Group

Oli Ahmed
Research Group

Nael H. Alami
Research Group

Rizwana Amin
Research Group

Lykke E. Andersen
Research Group

Bráulio Oliveira Araújo
Research Group

Norah Aziamin Asongu
Research Group

Fabian Bartsch
Research Group

Jozef Bavoľár
Research Group

Khem Raj Bhatta
Research Group

Tuba Bircan
Research Group

Shalani Bita
Research Group

Hasitha Bombuwala
Research Group

Tymofii Brik
Research Group

Huseyin Cakal
Research Group

Marjolein Caniëls
Research Group

Marcela Carballo
Research Group

Nathalia M. Carvalho
Research Group

Laura Cely
Research Group

Sophie Chang
Research Group

Maria Chayinska
Research Group

Fang-Yu Chen
Research Group

JohnBosco Chika Chukwuorji
Research Group

Ana Raquel Costa
Research Group

Vidijah Ligalaba Dalizu
Research Group

Eliane Deschrijver
Research Group

İlknur Dilekler Aldemir
Research Group

Anne M. Doherty
Research Group

Rianne Doller
Research Group

Dmitrii Dubrov
Research Group

Salem Elegbede
Research Group

Jefferson Elizalde
Research Group

Eda Ermagan-Caglar
Research Group

Regina Fernández-Morales
Research Group

Juan Diego García-Castro
Research Group

Shagofah Ghafori
Research Group

Ximena Goldberg
Research Group

Catalina González-Uribe
Research Group

Harlen Alpízar-Rojas
Research Group

Christian Andres Palacios Haugestad
Research Group

Diana Higuera
Research Group

Kristof Hoorelbeke
Research Group

Evgeniya Hristova
Research Group

Barbora Hubená
Research Group

Hamidul Huq
Research Group

Keiko Ihaya
Research Group

Gosith Jayathilake
Research Group

Enyi Jen
Research Group

Amaani Jinadasa
Research Group

Jelena Joksimovic
Research Group

Pavol Kačmár
Research Group

Veselina Kadreva
Research Group

Kalina Kalinova
Research Group

Huda Anter Abdallah Kandeel
Research Group

Blerina Kellezi
Research Group

Sammyh Khan
Research Group

Maria Kontogianni
Research Group

Krzysztof Hanusz
Research Group

Miguel Landa-Blanco
Research Group

Andreas Lieberoth
Research Group

Samuel Lins
Research Group

Liudmila Liutsko
Research Group

Amanda Londero-Santos
Research Group

Anne Lundahl Mauritsen
Research Group

María Andrée Maegli
Research Group

Patience Magidie
Research Group

Roji Maharjan
Research Group

Tsvetelina Makaveeva
Research Group

Malose Makhubela
Research Group

María Gálvis Malagón
Research Group

Sergey Malykh
Research Group

Salomé Mamede
Research Group

Samuel Mandillah
Research Group

Mohammad Sabbir Mansoor
Research Group

Silvia Mari
Research Group

Inmaculada Marín-López
Research Group

Tiago A. Marot
Research Group

Sandra Martínez
Research Group

Juma Mauka
Research Group

Sigrun Marie Moss
Research Group

Asia Mushtaq
Research Group

Arian Musliu
Research Group

Daniel Mususa
Research Group

Arooj Najmussaqib
Research Group

Aishath Nasheeda
Research Group

Ramona Nasr
Research Group

Natalia Niño Machado
Research Group

Jean Carlos Natividade
Research Group

Honest Prosper Ngowi
Research Group

Carolyne Nyarangi
Research Group

Charles Ogunbode
Research Group

Charles Onyutha
Research Group

K. Padmakumar
Research Group

Walter Paniagua
Research Group

Maria Caridad Pena
Research Group

Martin Pírko
Research Group

Mayda Portela
Research Group

Hamidreza Pouretemad
Research Group

Nikolay Rachev
Research Group

Muhamad Ratodi
Research Group

Jason Reifler
Research Group

Saeid Sadeghi
Research Group

Harishanth Samuel Sahayanathan
Research Group

Eva Sanchez
Research Group

Ella Marie Sandbakken
Research Group

Jana Schrötter
Research Group

Sabarjah Shanthakumar
Research Group

Pilleriin Sikka
Research Group

Konstantina Slaveykova
Research Group

Anna Studzinska
Research Group

Fadelia Deby Subandi
Research Group

Namita Subedi
Research Group

Gavin Brent Sullivan
Research Group

Benjamin Tag
Research Group

Takem Ebangha Agbor Delphine
Research Group

William Tamayo-Agudelo
Research Group

Giovanni A. Travaglino
Research Group

Jarno Tuominen
Research Group

Tuğba Türk-Kurtça
Research Group

Matutu Vakai
Research Group

Tatiana Volkodav
Research Group

Austin Horng-En Wang Wang
Research Group

Alphonsus Williams
Research Group

Charles Wu
Research Group

Yuki Yamada
Research Group

Teodora Yaneva
Research Group

Nicolás Yañez
Research Group

Yao-Yuan Yeh
Research Group

Emina Zoletic
Research Group

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Vaccines are an effective means to reduce the spread of diseases, but they are sometimes met with hesitancy that needs to be understood.

METHOD: In this study, we analyzed data from a large, cross-country survey conducted between June and August 2021 in 43 countries (N = 15,740) to investigate the roles of trust in government and science in shaping vaccine attitudes and willingness to be vaccinated.

RESULTS: Despite significant variability between countries, we found that both forms of institutional trust were associated with a higher willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Furthermore, we found that conspiratorial thinking and anti-expert sentiments predicted reduced trust in government and science, respectively, and that trust mediated the relationship between these two constructs and ultimate vaccine attitudes. Although most countries displayed similar relationships between conspiratorial thinking and anti-expert sentiments, trust in government and science, and vaccine attitudes, we identified three countries (Brazil, Honduras, and Russia) that demonstrated significantly altered associations between the examined variables in terms of significant random slopes.

CONCLUSIONS: Cross-country differences suggest that local governments' support for COVID-19 prevention policies can influence populations' vaccine attitudes. These findings provide insight for policymakers to develop interventions aiming to increase trust in the institutions involved in the vaccination process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Acceptance Date Dec 8, 2022
Publication Date Apr 1, 2023
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Health Psychology
Print ISSN 0278-6133
Electronic ISSN 1930-7810
Publisher American Psychological Association
Volume 42
Issue 4
Pages 235-246
DOI https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001268
Keywords anti-expert sentiments; conspiratorial thinking; vaccine hesitancy; trust; government
Publisher URL https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/hea/index