Pandemic or “Plandemic”?: The Mediating Role of Epistemic Justification Strategies in the Relationship Between COVID‐19 Conspiracy Beliefs and COVID‐19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs
ABSTRACT Background In today's post‐truth times, where personal feelings and beliefs have become increasingly important, determining what is accurate knowledge has become an important skill. This is especially important during uncertainty crises (e.g., epidemics and pandemics) because alternati...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Brain and Behavior |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.70275 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832582649514819584 |
|---|---|
| author | Ali Gökalp Servet Üztemur Po‐Ching Huang Aslı Kartol Hsin‐Chi Tsai Erkan Dinç Mark D. Griffiths Chung‐Ying Lin |
| author_facet | Ali Gökalp Servet Üztemur Po‐Ching Huang Aslı Kartol Hsin‐Chi Tsai Erkan Dinç Mark D. Griffiths Chung‐Ying Lin |
| author_sort | Ali Gökalp |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Background In today's post‐truth times, where personal feelings and beliefs have become increasingly important, determining what is accurate knowledge has become an important skill. This is especially important during uncertainty crises (e.g., epidemics and pandemics) because alternative explanations other than scientific knowledge may be disseminated vigorously. Epistemic justification concerns how and in what way the truth of knowledge claims is justified and the criteria for knowledge to be true and/or a fact. Given this backdrop, the present study examined how individuals reacted to conspiracies in an uncertainty crisis (using the COVID‐19 pandemic as an example). Aim The mediating role of epistemic justification was investigated regarding its relationship between COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs and COVID‐19 vaccine conspiracy beliefs. Methods A cross‐sectional study was conducted incorporating a multifactorial correlational design. Using convenience sampling, 690 participants (55.7% females, Mage = 32.24 years, SD = 9.75) from different regions of Türkiye completed an online survey via Google Forms. Results The results demonstrated a strong and statistically significant correlation between beliefs in COVID‐19 conspiracy theories and beliefs in COVID‐19 vaccination conspiracy theories. The mediating effects of justification by authority and personal justification were statistically significant between COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs and COVID‐19 vaccine conspiracy theories. Conclusion Using the COVID‐19 pandemic as an example, the present results indicated the complex relationships between conspiracy beliefs and epistemic justification. The present results indicate the importance of authorities in taking early action to provide scientific evidence and information to the public to avoid individuals believing false information. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9f1b039491104b0f9046062358de64d0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2162-3279 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain and Behavior |
| spelling | doaj-art-9f1b039491104b0f9046062358de64d02025-01-29T13:36:39ZengWileyBrain and Behavior2162-32792025-01-01151n/an/a10.1002/brb3.70275Pandemic or “Plandemic”?: The Mediating Role of Epistemic Justification Strategies in the Relationship Between COVID‐19 Conspiracy Beliefs and COVID‐19 Vaccine Conspiracy BeliefsAli Gökalp0Servet Üztemur1Po‐Ching Huang2Aslı Kartol3Hsin‐Chi Tsai4Erkan Dinç5Mark D. Griffiths6Chung‐Ying Lin7Department of Educational Sciences Gaziantep University Gaziantep TürkiyeDepartment of Turkish and Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Education Anadolu University Eskişehir TürkiyeSchool of Physical Therapy, Graduate Institute of Rehabilitation Science, College of Medicine Chang Gung University Taoyuan TaiwanDepartment of Psychological Counseling and Guidance Trakya University Edirne TürkiyeDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine Tzu Chi University Hualien TaiwanDepartment of Primary Education, Faculty of Education Anadolu University Eskişehir TürkiyeInternational Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department Nottingham Trent University Nottingham UKInstitute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine National Cheng Kung University Tainan TaiwanABSTRACT Background In today's post‐truth times, where personal feelings and beliefs have become increasingly important, determining what is accurate knowledge has become an important skill. This is especially important during uncertainty crises (e.g., epidemics and pandemics) because alternative explanations other than scientific knowledge may be disseminated vigorously. Epistemic justification concerns how and in what way the truth of knowledge claims is justified and the criteria for knowledge to be true and/or a fact. Given this backdrop, the present study examined how individuals reacted to conspiracies in an uncertainty crisis (using the COVID‐19 pandemic as an example). Aim The mediating role of epistemic justification was investigated regarding its relationship between COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs and COVID‐19 vaccine conspiracy beliefs. Methods A cross‐sectional study was conducted incorporating a multifactorial correlational design. Using convenience sampling, 690 participants (55.7% females, Mage = 32.24 years, SD = 9.75) from different regions of Türkiye completed an online survey via Google Forms. Results The results demonstrated a strong and statistically significant correlation between beliefs in COVID‐19 conspiracy theories and beliefs in COVID‐19 vaccination conspiracy theories. The mediating effects of justification by authority and personal justification were statistically significant between COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs and COVID‐19 vaccine conspiracy theories. Conclusion Using the COVID‐19 pandemic as an example, the present results indicated the complex relationships between conspiracy beliefs and epistemic justification. The present results indicate the importance of authorities in taking early action to provide scientific evidence and information to the public to avoid individuals believing false information.https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.70275COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefsCOVID‐19 vaccine conspiracy beliefsepistemic beliefsepistemic justificationjustification by authoritypersonal justification |
| spellingShingle | Ali Gökalp Servet Üztemur Po‐Ching Huang Aslı Kartol Hsin‐Chi Tsai Erkan Dinç Mark D. Griffiths Chung‐Ying Lin Pandemic or “Plandemic”?: The Mediating Role of Epistemic Justification Strategies in the Relationship Between COVID‐19 Conspiracy Beliefs and COVID‐19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Brain and Behavior COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs COVID‐19 vaccine conspiracy beliefs epistemic beliefs epistemic justification justification by authority personal justification |
| title | Pandemic or “Plandemic”?: The Mediating Role of Epistemic Justification Strategies in the Relationship Between COVID‐19 Conspiracy Beliefs and COVID‐19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs |
| title_full | Pandemic or “Plandemic”?: The Mediating Role of Epistemic Justification Strategies in the Relationship Between COVID‐19 Conspiracy Beliefs and COVID‐19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs |
| title_fullStr | Pandemic or “Plandemic”?: The Mediating Role of Epistemic Justification Strategies in the Relationship Between COVID‐19 Conspiracy Beliefs and COVID‐19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pandemic or “Plandemic”?: The Mediating Role of Epistemic Justification Strategies in the Relationship Between COVID‐19 Conspiracy Beliefs and COVID‐19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs |
| title_short | Pandemic or “Plandemic”?: The Mediating Role of Epistemic Justification Strategies in the Relationship Between COVID‐19 Conspiracy Beliefs and COVID‐19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs |
| title_sort | pandemic or plandemic the mediating role of epistemic justification strategies in the relationship between covid 19 conspiracy beliefs and covid 19 vaccine conspiracy beliefs |
| topic | COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs COVID‐19 vaccine conspiracy beliefs epistemic beliefs epistemic justification justification by authority personal justification |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.70275 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aligokalp pandemicorplandemicthemediatingroleofepistemicjustificationstrategiesintherelationshipbetweencovid19conspiracybeliefsandcovid19vaccineconspiracybeliefs AT servetuztemur pandemicorplandemicthemediatingroleofepistemicjustificationstrategiesintherelationshipbetweencovid19conspiracybeliefsandcovid19vaccineconspiracybeliefs AT pochinghuang pandemicorplandemicthemediatingroleofepistemicjustificationstrategiesintherelationshipbetweencovid19conspiracybeliefsandcovid19vaccineconspiracybeliefs AT aslıkartol pandemicorplandemicthemediatingroleofepistemicjustificationstrategiesintherelationshipbetweencovid19conspiracybeliefsandcovid19vaccineconspiracybeliefs AT hsinchitsai pandemicorplandemicthemediatingroleofepistemicjustificationstrategiesintherelationshipbetweencovid19conspiracybeliefsandcovid19vaccineconspiracybeliefs AT erkandinc pandemicorplandemicthemediatingroleofepistemicjustificationstrategiesintherelationshipbetweencovid19conspiracybeliefsandcovid19vaccineconspiracybeliefs AT markdgriffiths pandemicorplandemicthemediatingroleofepistemicjustificationstrategiesintherelationshipbetweencovid19conspiracybeliefsandcovid19vaccineconspiracybeliefs AT chungyinglin pandemicorplandemicthemediatingroleofepistemicjustificationstrategiesintherelationshipbetweencovid19conspiracybeliefsandcovid19vaccineconspiracybeliefs |