Conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 vaccination intention: examining the mediating effects of trust and attitude

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous conspiracy theories have spread uncontrollably, with the risk of reducing adherence to recommended preventive behaviours, including vaccination. The present study aimed to test the direct and indirect effects of antivaccine conspiracy beliefs on intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19, analysing the mediating roles of trust in science, trust in government, and attitude towards vaccinating. Methods: A convenience sample of 822 unvaccinated Italian adults (F = 67.4%; Mage = 38.1) completed an online self-report questionnaire during the early stages of the Italian vaccination campaign (March-May 2021). The survey assessed intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19, attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination, trust in science, trust in government, and anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs. The hypothesised relationships between the variables were examined by using path analysis. Findings: The analyses revealed that anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs negatively influenced intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Results also provided support for the hypothesised mediating effects of attitude, trust in science, and trust in government. In particular, the simple mediating effect of attitude was the strongest one, followed by the serial mediating effect of trust in science and attitude itself. Discussion: Anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs are suggested to reduce vaccination intention first by deteriorating attitude and, secondly, by destroying trust in official sources of information about COVID-19. These results indicate that improving people’s attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination, along with increasing social trust, could be useful strategies to combat conspiracy theories and promote COVID-19 vaccination acceptance.