Conspire to one's own detriment: Strengthening HPV Program Support Through Debunking Epistemically Suspect Beliefs.

The study experimentally tested an intervention that debunks epistemically suspect beliefs about vaccines. After answering questions about pre-existing epistemically suspect beliefs (irrational health beliefs and conspiracy mentality), 565 participants were randomly assigned into one of three conditions and exposed either to neutral information about domestic animals, salient epistemically suspect content about vaccination or an intervention that debunks epistemically suspect beliefs about vaccination. Afterwards, the participants answered questions about vaccination-related conspiracy narratives (manipulation check), vaccination attitudes, intentions to vaccinate against HPV, support for an HPV vaccination programme and intentions to seek health guidance. Although the intervention demonstrated the potential to inhibit the endorsement of conspiracy narratives, we found no differences in the other outcome variables. Nevertheless, across the conditions, pre-existing epistemically suspect beliefs were associated with less favourable attitudes towards vaccination, lower intentions to vaccinate against HPV, less support for the vaccination programme and lower intentions to seek health guidance. The results indicate that debunking may be futile in curbing long-term negative impacts associated with epistemically suspect beliefs, and they contribute to the debate about assessing the effectiveness of interventions related to highly controversial topics such as vaccination. The study enhances understanding of persistent adverse impacts that epistemically suspect beliefs may have on public health outcomes.

Unfounded beliefs, distress and powerlessness: A three-wave longitudinal study.

The aim of the study was to examine the relationships between unfounded COVID-19 beliefs and distress and powerlessness, specifically, whether distress and powerlessness are causes or consequences of unfounded COVID-19 beliefs represented by conspiracy beliefs and pseudoscientific beliefs regarding treatment and measures. Unfounded beliefs were assessed using the COVID-19 Unfounded Beliefs Scale; distress was measured with the Symptom Checklist-10, and powerlessness was measured with four items measuring the feeling of losing control. Data collection took place during three phases of the pandemic in Slovakia (October 2021, N = 1838; July 2022, N = 1,420; April 2023, N = 925). Results suggest that individuals with stronger unfounded beliefs about COVID-19 reported greater powerlessness longitudinally, and individuals with stronger COVID-19 unfounded beliefs treatment and measures reported greater distress longitudinally (notably, beliefs about COVID-19 measures in the first wave were associated with distress in the second wave, and beliefs about COVID-19 treatment in the second wave were associated with distress in the third wave). The present findings corroborate an existential threat model of conspiracy theories that says the relationship between unfounded beliefs and indicators of well-being is bidirectional, so interventions should be focused both on eliminating the unfounded beliefs and strengthening well-being.

The mediating effect of institutional trust in the relationship between precarity and conspiracy beliefs: A conceptual replication of Adam-Troian et al. (2023).

The paper reports the results of registered conceptual replications of the indirect effect of institutional trust in the relationship between precarity and the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs (CB). The original study of Adam-Troian et al. (2023; British Journal of Social Psychology, 62(S1), 136-159) indicated that subjective appraisals of economic hardship are associated with lower trust in governments and institutions, which in turn is associated with stronger endorsement of CB. Our Studies 1 to 3 report a series of replications using Slovak panel data. Study 4 reports a replication of the mediation model using data from the European Social Survey Round 10 collected in 17 countries. To provide a quantitative synthesis of these and previous results, we conducted mini meta-analysis (N = 50,340). Although the strength of the observed relationships differed across the studies to some degree, the original patterns of relations remained robust, supporting the original model. The study corroborates the view that to curb the spread of CB, it is necessary to address structural issues, such as growing financial insecurity, socioeconomic inequalities, and the deficit of institutional trust. Finally, we discuss the role of cultural and political settings in conditioning the mechanisms through which precarity enhances the endorsement of CB.

Seeing past the tip of your own nose? How outward and self-centred orientations could contribute to closing the green gap despite helplessness.

BACKGROUND: The present study explored moderators of the relation between environmental concerns and pro-environmental behaviour that could help close the green gap. METHODS: A sample of 500 individuals (250 women) participated in the study. Apart from socio-demographic characteristics, participants answered questions about their environmental concerns and pro-environmental behaviour, collectivism and individualism, time orientation and emotional responses to climate change. RESULTS: Our results corroborate the view that collectivism, future orientation and prosocial tendencies may form a single component of outward orientation, while individualism and immediate orientation form self-centred orientation. Generally, outwardly oriented individuals and those less self-centred reported more pro-environmental behaviour. However, strongly self-centred individuals, even when reporting elevated helplessness, showed increased involvement in pro-environmental behaviour once their concerns were high. CONCLUSIONS: The study contributes to the literature by pointing out that both outward and self-centred orientations have the potential to insulate individuals against the negative effect helplessness may have on pro-environmental behaviour. This could inform strategies that would both prompt individuals already concerned to act and arouse more concern among those who are not yet preoccupied with climate change.

Emotional drivers of the vaccination hesitancy and refusal: A dataset from Slovakia.

The dataset comprises responses provided by 500 individuals (250 women) recruited by an external agency to be representative of the Slovak population concerning age and gender. Participants gave written consent to participate in the study by confirming that they are over 18 and have read all the information about the study before agreeing to participate in an online survey hosted on Qualtrics. Along with socio-demographic characteristics and vaccination hesitancy and refusal, the dataset contains variables that could explain variation in dependant variables: horizontal-vertical individualism-collectivism, consideration of future consequences, prosocial motivations, helplessness, and the sense of threat caused by vaccination but also the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate change. In the original paper, the authors performed correlational analysis and hierarchical regressions investigating antecedents of vaccination hesitancy and refusal. The data inform interventions aimed at boosting vaccination rates, particularly amongst highly sceptical societies such as Slovakia. Apart from investigating the relations between various forms of prosocial behaviour such as vaccination intentions and attitudes, helping behaviour during the pandemic, and pro-environmental behaviour, the dataset offers an opportunity to delve deeper into the drivers of various forms of socially beneficial behaviour. Ultimately, the data could help corroborate the existence of two new constructs of outward orientation (comprising future orientation, collectivism and prosocial motivations) and self-centred orientation (immediate orientation and individualism) that could be useful in explaining individual differences in prosocial intentions and behaviour.

Scientific reasoning is associated with rejection of unfounded health beliefs and adherence to evidence-based regulations during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Scientific reasoning and trust in science are two facets of science understanding. This paper examines the contribution of science understanding, over and above analytic thinking, to the endorsement of conspiracy and pseudoscientific beliefs about COVID-19 and behavioral intentions to engage in the recommended preventive behavior. We examined the direct and indirect effects of science understanding on normative health behavior in a representative sample of the Slovak population (N = 1024). The results showed more support for the indirect pathway: individuals with a better understanding of science generally had fewer epistemically suspect beliefs and as a consequence tended to behave more in line with the evidence-based guidelines and get vaccinated. Neither scientific reasoning nor trust in science directly predicted non-compliance with preventive measures, but analytic thinking correlated positively with non-compliance with preventive measures. The strongest predictor of epistemically suspect beliefs was trust in science, which also directly predicted the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Therefore, reasoning about which experts or sources to believe (second-order scientific reasoning) has become more important than directly evaluating the original evidence (first-order scientific reasoning). Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-023-04284-y.

You before me: How vertical collectivism and feelings of threat predicted more socially desirable behaviour during COVID-19 pandemic.

The present study investigated the relationship between outward orientation and COVID-related prosocial behavior, including adherence to containment measures, caring for others and providing support, limiting one's social life and responsible purchasing behavior. A sample of 500 Slovaks (250 women) aged between 18 and 86 (M = 44.32, SD = 15.66) participated in the study and responded to questions concerning their sociodemographic and personality characteristics, collectivism and individualism, the consciousness of future consequences and emotional responses to the pandemic. The results show that apart from the perceived threat of COVID-19, vertical collectivism is among the strongest antecedents of COVID-related prosocial behavior. Specifically, feelings of threat, vertical collectivism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, liberalism, and education predicted more prosocial behavior during the pandemic. Consequently, the study indicates that while excessive fear may have adverse effects on individuals' well-being, appealing to and cultivating collectivistic sentiments could contribute not only to containing the pandemic but also to making others' lives more bearable while it lasts.

How scientific reasoning correlates with health-related beliefs and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic?

We examined whether scientific reasoning is associated with health-related beliefs and behaviors over and above general analytic thinking ability in the general public (N = 783, aged 18-84). Health-related beliefs included: anti-vaccination attitudes, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, and generic health-related epistemically suspect beliefs. Scientific reasoning correlated with generic pseudoscientific and health-related conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs. Crucially, scientific reasoning was a stronger independent predictor of unfounded beliefs (including anti-vaccination attitudes) than general analytic thinking was; however, it had a more modest role in health-related behaviors.

Corrigendum: The Effect of Analytic Cognitive Style on Credulity.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.584424.].

When we are worried, what are we thinking? Anxiety, lack of control, and conspiracy beliefs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Societal crises and stressful events are associated with an upsurge of conspiracy beliefs that may help people to tackle feelings of lack of control. In our study (N = 783), we examined whether people with higher feelings of anxiety and lack of control early in the COVID-19 pandemic endorse more conspiracy theories. Our results show that a higher perception of risk of COVID-19 and lower trust in institutions' response to the pandemic were related to feelings of anxiety and lack of control. Feeling the lack of control, but not anxiety, independently predicted COVID-19 conspiracy theory endorsement. Importantly, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs were strongly correlated with generic conspiracy and pseudoscientific beliefs, which were likewise associated with the feeling of lack of control and lower trust in institutions. The results highlight that considering people's emotional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial for our understanding of the spread of conspiracy and pseudoscientific beliefs.

Finding Someone to Blame: The Link Between COVID-19 Conspiracy Beliefs, Prejudice, Support for Violence, and Other Negative Social Outcomes.

One of the appeals of conspiracy theories in times of crises is that they provide someone to blame for what has happened. Thereby, they increase distrust, negative feelings, and hostility toward implicated actors, whether those are powerful social outgroups or one's own government representatives. Two studies reported here examine associations of COVID-19 conspiracy theories with prejudice, support for violence, and other and negative social outcomes. In Study 1 (N = 501), the endorsement of the more specific conspiracy theories about the alleged role of China was associated with more prejudiced views of Chinese and Italian people. In Study 2 (N = 1024), lowered trust in government regulations and increased hostility associated with the COVID-19 and generic conspiracy beliefs were correlated with justification of and willingness to engage in non-compliance with regulations, violent attacks on 5G masts, and anti-government protests. Across both of the studies, higher exposure to news about COVID-19 was associated with lower endorsement of conspiracy theories, but also with increased feelings of anxiety and lack of control, which in turn were correlated with higher COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs endorsement. We highlight the potential social problems which are associated with the wide-spread endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy theories.

The Effect of Analytic Cognitive Style on Credulity.

Belief in astrology remains strong even today, and one of the explanations why some people endorse paranormal explanations is the individual differences in analytical thinking. Therefore, the main aim of this paper was to determine the effects of priming an analytical or intuitive thinking style on the credulity of participants. In two experiments (N = 965), analytic thinking was induced and the source of fake profile (astrological reading vs. psychological testing) was manipulated and participants' prior paranormal beliefs, anomalous explanation, cognitive reflection, and depression were measured. Although analytic thinking was proved to be hard to induce experimentally, the results showed that analytic thinking predicts credulity and belief in the paranormal was linked with experiencing more anomalous experiences and more paranormal explanations. The more people were able to think analytically, the less credulous they were as reflected in the lower acceptance of fake profile as accurate.