National Laboratory For Health Security, HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences, 1097 Budapest, Hungary; Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences, Harvard University, 1737 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States of America.
Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences, Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology, Social Psychology Department, Hungary.
Soc Sci Med. 2024 Sep;356:117149. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117149. Epub 2024 Jul 20.
Prior research suggests that belief in conspiracy theories can reduce the willingness of individuals to get vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Examining factors that may moderate this negative effect is an important area of research.
The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between vaccine uptake and two types of conspiracy beliefs (COVID-19 and vaccine-related) and the moderating role of direct and indirect experiences with the coronavirus.
We draw on nationally representative survey data collected in Hungary in January 2022 (N=1000, 47% male, 53% female; mean age 49.6 years). Structural equation models and multi-group analysis were performed.
Conspiracy beliefs were strongly associated with vaccine uptake, however, both direct and indirect experiences with the virus moderated the effect of conspiracy beliefs. Individuals who experienced a serious infection or reported a close person being infected by the virus developed severe symptoms or even died were less likely to take conspiracy theories seriously when deciding about their own vaccination. In two out of the four tested moderation effects, a negative experience with the virus reduced the negative effect of conspiracy beliefs.
Our findings demonstrate that personal or close real-life experience with severe COVID-19 infection can significantly mitigate the impact of conspiracy beliefs on vaccine hesitancy, highlighting the importance of real-life evidence in overcoming misinformation and increasing vaccine uptake. Nevertheless, it is important to mention that our results are preliminary, and future studies need to replicate the findings and test their robustness.
先前的研究表明，对阴谋论的信仰可能会降低个人在 COVID-19 大流行期间接种疫苗的意愿。研究可能调节这种负面影响的因素是一个重要的研究领域。
本研究旨在检验疫苗接种率与两种类型的阴谋信念（与 COVID-19 和疫苗相关的信念）之间的关系，并检验直接和间接接触冠状病毒的作用。
我们利用 2022 年 1 月在匈牙利进行的全国代表性调查数据（N=1000，47%为男性，53%为女性；平均年龄为 49.6 岁）。我们进行了结构方程模型和多组分析。
阴谋信念与疫苗接种率密切相关，但病毒的直接和间接经验都调节了阴谋信念的影响。经历过严重感染或报告有密切接触者感染病毒、出现严重症状甚至死亡的个体，在决定自己接种疫苗时，不太可能认真对待阴谋论。在四个测试的调节效应中的两个中，对病毒的负面经验降低了阴谋信念的负面影响。
我们的研究结果表明，个人或与严重 COVID-19 感染有关的密切现实生活经验，可以显著减轻阴谋信念对疫苗犹豫的影响，强调了在克服错误信息和提高疫苗接种率方面，现实生活证据的重要性。然而，需要指出的是，我们的研究结果是初步的，未来的研究需要复制这些发现并检验其稳健性。
