| Title: | Are individuals with persistently high conspiracy mentality also persistently vaccine-hesitant? Findings from a three-wave panel study |
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| Authors: | ID Lamot, Monika (Author)
ID Kirbiš, Andrej (Author)
ID Kerman, Katja (Author) |
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| Files: |  RAZ_Lamot_Monika_2025.pdf (1,97 MB)
MD5: D8B914E1DC4C30C8BE2E343965910371
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625011013?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-2&rr=9db2d8d78b36c2c3
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| Language: | English |
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| Work type: | Scientific work |
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| Typology: | 1.01 - Original Scientific Article |
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| Organization: | FF - Faculty of Arts
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| Abstract: | Conspiracy mentality and vaccine hesitancy are frequently linked, yet most evidence is cross-sectional and cannot separate stable between-person differences from within-person change. Thus, it remains unclear whether conspiracy mentality drives vaccine hesitancy or vice versa. In addition, trust in science has been proposed as a key pathway connecting the two. To tackle these questions, we carried out a three-wave panel of adults (N = 574, Mean age = 52.80, SD = 15.88; 47.4 % men), who were followed over four months. Conspiracy mentality, trust in science, and vaccine hesitancy were measured at each wave. Longitudinal measurement invariance was evaluated prior to modeling. In the cross-lagged panel model, a small cross-lag emerged from conspiracy mentality at Wave 2 to vaccine hesitancy at Wave 3; other cross-lags were non-significant. In the random-intercept cross-lagged panel model, all within-person cross-lags were non-significant, while the random-intercept correlation between the two constructs was strong, indicating substantial trait-level overlap. A three-wave, timelagged mediation model showed a significant indirect effect from conspiracy mentality to vaccine hesitancy via lower trust in science. The findings suggest that conspiracy mentality and vaccine hesitancy co-exist as stable, correlated dispositions rather than displaying robust short-term within-person effects. At the population level, lower trust in science appears to be a key pathway linking conspiracy mentality to higher vaccine hesitancy. Interventions should therefore emphasize building trust in science |
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| Keywords: | conspiracy mentality, vaccine hesitancy, trust inscience, RI-CLPM |
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| Publication status: | Published |
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| Publication version: | Version of Record |
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| Article acceptance date: | 08.11.2025 |
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| Publication date: | 14.11.2025 |
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| Year of publishing: | 2025 |
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| Number of pages: | str. 1-9 |
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| Numbering: | Vol. 388, [article no.] ǂ118770 |
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| PID: | 20.500.12556/DKUM-97492  |
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| UDC: | 159.98:316.4:614.47 |
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| ISSN on article: | 1873-5347 |
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| COBISS.SI-ID: | 256941827 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118770 |
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| Publication date in DKUM: | 31.03.2026 |
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| Views: | 305 |
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| Downloads: | 5 |
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| Metadata: |    |
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| Categories: | Misc.
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