COVID-19 Aşı Kararsızlığı: Psikolojik ve Siyasi Faktörlerin Aracı Rolü

Öz

Bu çalışmanın amacı, COVID-19 gibi pandemilerle mücadeleyi olumsuz etkileyebilecek aşı kararsızlığının altında yatan kontrol kaybı hissi, otoritelere güven, komplo zihniyeti, ikili düşünme ve belirsizliğe tahammülsüzlük gibi psiko-politik faktörleri araştırmaktır. Örneklem 209 üniversite öğrencisi (%75,12) ve personelinden (%24,88) oluşmaktadır. Katılımcılar, Aşı Kararsızlığı Ölçeği, İkili Düşünme Envanteri, Komplo Zihniyeti Anketi'nin yanı sıra Otoritelere Güven ve Pandemi Sırasında Kontrol Kaybını ölçmeyi amaçlayan soruları içeren bir anket paketini doldurmuştur. Seri aracılık analizi sonuçları, pandemi sırasında kontrol kaybı hissinin otoritelere güvensizlik, komplo zihniyeti ve ikili düşünme yoluyla aşı tereddütüne yol açtığını göstermiştir. Bu sonuçlar, psikolojik ve siyasi açıdan sağlıklı bir ortamın sürdürülebilmesi için kamu iletişiminde belirsizliği azaltacak ve yetkililer ile kamuoyu arasında güven tesis edecek önlemlerin alınması gerektiğine işaret etmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• komplocu zihniyet
• otoritelere güvensizlik
• Maniheist görüş
• kontrol hissi
• post-truth

COVİD-19 Vaccine Hesitancy:The Mediating Role of Psychological and Political Factors

Öz

The aim of this study is to investigate the psycho-political factors (i.e., the sense of control loss, trust in authorities, conspiracy mentality, dichotomous thinking, and intolerance of uncertainty) underlying the vaccine hesitancy that may adversely affect the fight against pandemics such as COVID-19. The sample consisted of 209 university students (75.12%) and staff (24.88%). Participants completed a package of questionnaires, including Vaccine Hesitancy Scale, Dichotomous Thinking Inventory, Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire, alongside with questions aimed to measure Trust in Authorities, and Loss of Control during pandemic. The results of serial mediational analysis showed that the sense of control loss during pandemic led to vaccine hesitancy via distrust in authorities, conspiracy mentality, and dichotomous thinking. These results indicate the need to take measures to reduce ambiguity in public communications and to build trust between the authorities and the public in order to maintain a psychologically and politically healthy environment.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• conspiratorial mindset
• distrust in authorities
• Manichean view
• sense of control
• post-truth

Kaynakça

1. Abalakina‐Paap, M., Stephan, W. G., Craig, T., & Gregory, W. L. (1999). Beliefs in conspiracies. International Society of Political Psychology, 20(3), 637–647. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3792165.pdf
2. Adams, S. H., Schaub, J. P., Nagata, J. M., Park, M. J., Brindis, C. D. and Irwin, C. E. (2021). Young adult perspectives on COVID-19 vaccinations. Journal of Adolescent Health, 69(3), 511–514. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JADOHEALTH.2021.06.003
3. Albertazzi, D. ve McDonnell, D. (2015). Populists in Power. Routledge.
4. Aliyev, K. (2018). İkili Düşünme Ölçeğinin Türkçe Formunun Geçerlilik ve Güvenilirlik Çalışması [Validity and Reliability Study of the Turkish Form of the Dual Thinking Scale]. (Doctorate Thesis). Ankara University.
5. Alzueta, E., Perrin, P., Baker, F. C., Caffarra, S., Ramos‐Usuga, D., Yuksel, D. and Arango‐Lasprilla, J. C. (2021). How the COVID‐19 pandemic has changed our lives: A study of psychological correlates across 59 countries. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 77(3), 556-570. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23082
6. Arendt, H. 2005. Truth and Politics. In J. Medina and D. Wood (Eds.), Truth: Engagements across Philosophical Traditions (pp. 295-317). Blackwell Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470776407
7. Aupers, S. (2012). “Trust No One”: Modernization, paranoia and conspiracy culture. European Journal of Communication, 27(1), 22–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323111433566
8. Azak, A. N. and Wigen, E. (2022). “Whatever they say i do the opposite”: Vaccine resistance in Turkey during the covid-19 pandemic. Medical Anthropology, 41(8), 778-793. https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2022.2142578

9. Ball, P. (2020). Anti-vaccine movement could undermine efforts to end coronavirus pandemic, researchers warn. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01423-4, Accessed 15 Feb 2024
10. Bollen, K. and Lennox, R. (1991). Conventional wisdom on measurement: A structural equation perspective. Psychological Bulletin, 110(2), 305-314.
11. Brahmi, N., Singh, P., Sohal, M. and Sawhney, R. S. (2020). Psychological trauma among the healthcare professionals dealing with COVID-19. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 54, 102241. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.AJP.2020.102241
12. Braun, K. (2019). Unpacking post-truth. Critical Policy Studies, 13(4), 432-436. https://10.1080/19460171.2019.1673200
13. Bruder, M., Haffke, P., Neave, N., Nouripanah, N. and Imhoff, R. (2013). Measuring Individual differences in generic beliefs in conspiracy theories across cultures: Conspiracy mentality questionnaire. Frontiers in Psychology, 4(April). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00225
14. Bruder, M. and Kunert, L. (2022). The conspiracy hoax? Testing key hypotheses about the correlates of generic beliefs in conspiracy theories during the COVID‐19 pandemic. International Journal of Psychology, 57(1), 43-48. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12769
15. Buchholz, K. (2022, February 8). The Countries Where Covid-19 Vaccination Is Mandatory. Statista. https://www.statista.com/chart/25326/obligatory-vaccination-against-covid-19/
16. Butter, M. and Knight, P. (2020). Historical, cultural and literary studies. In M. Butter and P. Knight (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories (pp. 28–42). Routledge.
17. Carleton, R. N., Norton, M. A. P. J. and Asmundson, G. J. G. (2007). Fearing the unknown: A short version of the intolerance of uncertainty scale. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 21(1), 105-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JANXDIS.2006.03.014
18. Cheung, Y. T., Chau, P. H. and Yip, P. S. F. (2008). A revisit on older adults suicides and severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars) epidemic in Hong Kong. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23(12), 1231–1238. https://doi.org/10.1002/GPS.2056
19. Chiou, L. and Tucker, C. (2018). Fake news and advertising on social media: a study of the anti-vaccination movement. National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper, 1–35. https://doi.org/10.3386/w25223
20. Cortina, J. M. (1993). What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(1), 98. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.78.1.98
21. Chon, M.-G. and Kim, S. (2022). Fostering compliance with COVID-19 guidelines: Insights for risk communication strategies during a pandemic. The Social Science Journal, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2022.2049555
22. Davies, P., Chapman, S., & Leask, J. (2002). Antivaccination Activists on the World Wide Web. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 87(1), 22–25. https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.87.1.22
23. Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M. and Cichocka, A. (2017). The psychology of conspiracy theories. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(6), 538-542. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417718261
24. Eberl, J.-M., Huber, R. A. and Greussing, E. (2021). From populism to the “plandemic”: Why populists believe in covid-19 conspiracies. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 31(1), 272–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2021.1924730
25. Einstein, K. L. and Glick, D. M. (2014). Do I think bls data are bs? The consequences of conspiracy theories. Political Behavior, 37(3), 679–701. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11109-014-9287-Z
26. Erdmann, J. (2016). Technological and semiotic code structures of conspiracist thinking online: Pi news from a media-related point of view. Lexia: Revisita di Semiotica, 23–24, 157–170. https://doi.org/10.4399/97888548993159
27. Fenster, M. (2008). Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture. University of Minnesota Press.
28. Fernbach, P. M. and Bogard, J. E. (2023). Conspiracy theory as individual and group behavior: Observations from the Flat Earth International Conference. Topics in Cognitive Science, 0, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12662
29. Foley, K., Lunnay, B. and Ward, P.R. (2023), Feeling and (Dis)trusting in Modern, Post-Truth, Pandemic Times. In P.R. Ward & K. Foley (Eds.), The Emerald Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions for a Post-Pandemic World (pp. 211-232), Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-323-220231011
30. Goertzel, T. (1994). Belief in conspiracy theories. Political Psychology, 15(4), 731–742. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/0162-895X.00328
31. Goldberg, Z. J. and Richey, S. (2020). Anti-vaccination beliefs and unrelated conspiracy theories. World Affairs, 183(2), 105–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/0043820020920554
32. Green, R. and Douglas, K. M. (2018). Anxious attachment and belief in conspiracy theories. Personality and Individual Differences, 125, 30–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PAID.2017.12.023
33. Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T. and Solomon, S. (1986). The causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem: A terror management theory. In R. F. Baumeister (Eds.), Public Self and Private Self (pp. 189–212). Springer.
34. Gregory, A. (2023, May 5). Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency, says WHO. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/05/covid-19-no-longer-global-health-emergency-world-health-organization
35. Gulle, B. T., Oren M. M., and Dal, T. (2023). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Turkey: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Epidemiology and Infection, 151, e199, 1–8 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268823001875
36. Gülarslan Değer, K. (2022). Koronavirüs pandemi döneminde aşı karşıtlığı, sosyal medya ve komplo teorileri [anti-vaccine social media and conspiracy theories during the coronavirus pandemic period]. İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi, 58, 123-138. https://doi.org/10.47998/ikad.1070190
37. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J. and Anderson, R. E. (2009). Multivariate Data Analysis (7th ed.). Prentice Hall.
38. Han, P. K., Zikmund-Fisher, B. J., Duarte, C. W., Knaus, M., Black, A., Scherer, A. M. and Fagerlin, A. (2018). Communication of scientific uncertainty about a novel pandemic health threat: Ambiguity aversion and its mechanisms. Journal of Health Communication, 23(5), 435–444. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2018.1461961
39. Hellmeier, S. (2023). From masks to mismanagement: A global assessment of the rise and fall of pandemic-related protests. Research and Politics, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680231191
40. Hornsey, M. J., Harris, E. A. and Fielding, K. S. (2018). The psychological roots of anti-vaccination attitudes: A 24-Nation investigation. Health Psychology, 37(4), 307–315. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000586.supp
41. Hoştut, S., Güdekli, A. and Güzeldağ, F. (2024). Safeguarding truth in turmoil: A study of the Turkish government's strategic deployment of Twitter during the february 6, 2023, Earthquakes. Bilig, (108). https://doi.org/10.12995/bilig.10803
42. Howard, M. C. (2016). A review of exploratory factor analysis decisions and overview of current practices: What we are doing and how can we improve?. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 32(1), 51-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2015.1087664
43. Hulland, J. (1999). Use of partial least squares (pls) in strategic management research: A review of four recent studies. Strategic Management Journal, 20(2), 195-204. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199902)20:2<195::AID-SMJ13>3.0.CO;2-7
44. Islam, M. S., Kamal, A.-H. M., Kabir, A., Southern, D. L., Khan, S. H., Hasan, S. M. M., Sarkar, T., Sharmin, S., Das, S., Roy, T., Harun, M. G. D., Chughtai, A. A., Homaira, N. and Seale, H. (2021). COVID-19 vaccine rumors and conspiracy theories: the need for cognitive inoculation against misinformation to improve vaccine adherence. PLoS ONE, 16(5), e0251605. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251605
45. Jolley, D. and Douglas, K. M. (2014). The effects of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories on vaccination intentions. PLoS ONE, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089177
46. Kata, A. (2010). A postmodern pandora’s box: anti-vaccination misinformation on the internet. Vaccine, 28(7), 1709–1716. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.VACCINE.2009.12.022
47. Kata, A. (2012). Anti-Vaccine activists, web 2.0, and the postmodern paradigm - an overview of tactics and tropes used online by the anti-vaccination movement. Vaccine, 30(25), 3778–3789. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.11.112
48. Kilincarslan, M. G., Sarigül, B., Toraman, Ç. and Sahin, E. M. (2020). Development of valid and reliable scale of vaccine hesitancy in Turkish Language. Konuralp Medical Journal, 12(3), 420–429. https://doi.org/10.18521/ktd.693711
49. Kline, R. B. (2016). Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling (4th Edition). The Guilford Press.
50. Langguth J., Schroeder, D.T., Filkuková P., Brenner, S., Phillips, J. and Pogorelov, K. (2023). COCO: an annotated Twitter dataset of COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Journal of Computational Social Science, Preprint, 1-42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42001-023-00200-3
51. Le, K. and Nguyen, M. (2021). The psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic severity. Economics & Human Biology, 41, 100979. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2021.100979
52. Leigh-Hunt, N., Bagguley, D., Bash, K., Turner, V., Turnbull, S., Valtorta, N. and Caan, W. (2017). An overview of systematic reviews on the public health consequences of social isolation and loneliness. Public Health, 152, 157–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PUHE.2017.07.035
53. Lewandowsky, S., Ecker, U. K. and Cook, J. (2017). Beyond misinformation: Understanding and coping with the “Post-Truth” Era. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6(4), 353-369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2017.07.008
54. Limoges, C. (1993). Expert knowledge and decision-making in controversy contexts. Public Understanding of Science, 2(4), 417–426.
55. Mahamid, F. A., Veronese, G. and Bdier, D. (2023). Fear of coronavirus (COVID-19) and mental health outcomes in Palestine: The mediating role of social support. Current Psychology, 42(10), 8572-8581. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02395-y
56. McIntyre, L. C. (2018). Post-truth. MIT Press.
57. Merenda, P. F. (1997). A guide to the proper use of factor analysis in the conduct and reporting of research: Pitfalls to avoid. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 30, 156-164.
58. Miller, J. M., Saunders, K. L. and Farhart, C. E. (2016). Conspiracy endorsement as motivated reasoning: The moderating roles of political knowledge and trust. American Journal of Political Science, 60(4), 824–844. https://doi.org/10.1111/AJPS.12234
59. Morgado-Toscano, C., Gómez-Salgado, J., Fagundo-Rivera, J., Navarro-Abal, Y., Rodríguez-Jiménez, L., Climent-Rodríguez, J. A. and Allande-Cussó, R. (2023). Anxiety and Fear of COVID-19 in the UK General Population: A Cross-Sectional Study. Medicine, 102(10), e33045. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000033045
60. Mudde, C. (2004). The populist Zeitgeist. Government and Opposition, 39(4), 541–563. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/44483088.pdf
61. Nazlı, Ş.B., Yığman, F., Sevindik, M. and Özturan, D. D. (2022). Psychological factors affecting Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy. Irish Journal of Medical Science, 191, 71–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-021-02640-0
62. Oliver, J. E. and Wood, T. J. (2014). Conspiracy Theories and the Paranoid Style(S) of Mass Opinion. American Journal of Political Science, 58(4), 952–966. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12084
63. Oshio, A. (2009). Development and validation of the dichotomous thinking inventory. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 37(6) 729-741. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2009.37.6.729
64. Pertwee, E., Simas, C. and Larson, H. J. (2022). An epidemic of uncertainty: Rumors, conspiracy theories and vaccine hesitancy. Nature Medicine, 28, 456–459. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01728-z
65. Plenta, P. (2020). Conspiracy theories as a political instrument: Utilization of anti-soros narratives in Central Europe, Contemporary Politics, 26(5), 512-530, https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2020.1781332
66. Prati, G. and Mancini, A.D. (2021). The psychological impact of Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns: a review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies and natural experiments. Psychological Medicine, 51, 201–211. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291721000015
67. Preacher, K. J., and Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior research methods, 40(3), 879-891. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.3.879
68. Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S. and Greenberg, J. (2015). Thirty years of terror management theory: From genesis to revelation. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 52, 1–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2015.03.001
69. Pyszczynski, T., Lockett, M., Greenberg, J. and Solomon, S. (2021). Terror management theory and the covid-19 Pandemic. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 61(2), 173–189. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167820959488
70. Rogers, J. P., Chesney, E., Oliver, D., Pollak, T. A., McGuire, P., Fusar-Poli, P., Zandi, M. S., Lewis, G. and David, A. S. (2020). Psychiatric and neuropsychiatric presentations associated with severe coronavirus infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis with comparison to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(7), 611–627. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30203-0
71. Romano, A. (2020, April 12). Study: Nearly a third of Americans believe a coronavirus conspiracy theory. Vox. https://www.vox.com/covid-19-coronavirus-us-response-trump/2020/4/12/21217646/pew-study-coronavirus-origins-conspiracy-theory-media
72. Rothschild, Z. K., Landau, M. J., Sullivan, D. and Keefer, L. A. (2012). A dual-motive model of scapegoating: Displacing blame to reduce guilt or increase control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(6), 1148–1163. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027413
73. Sarıçam, H., Erguvan, F. M., Akın, A. and Akça, M. Ş. (2014). Belirsizliğe tahammülsüzlük ölçeği (BTÖ-12) Türkçe formu: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması [The Turkish short version of the intolerance of uncertainty (Ius-12) Scale: The study of validity and reliability]. Route Educational and Social Science Journal, 1(3), 148–148. https://doi.org/10.17121/ressjournal.109
74. Satıl, C. (2021, June 23). COVID-19 Aşısı ile ilgili söylentiler ve komplo teorileri [Rumours and Conspiracy Theories about COVID-19 Vaccine]. Doğruluk Payı. https://www.dogrulukpayi.com/bulten/covid-19-asisi-ile-ilgili-soylentiler-ve-komplo-teorileri
75. Srikanth, A. (2020, April 28). Why Some People are Still in Denial over Coronavirus — And How to Convince Them to Take It Seriously. The Hill. https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/mental-health/494931-why-some-people-could-still-be-in-denial-over-the/
76. Swami, V., Coles, R., Stieger, S., Pietschnig, J., Furnham, A., Rehim, S. and Voracek, M. (2011). Conspiracist ideation in Britain and Austria: evidence of a monological belief system and associations between individual psychological differences and real‐world and fictitious conspiracy theories. British Journal of Psychology, 102(3), 443-463.
77. Torjesen I. (2021). Covid-19: Omicron may be more transmissible than other variants and partly resistant to existing vaccines, scientists fear. BMJ. 375:n2943. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n2943
78. Usher, K., Durkin, J. and Bhullar, N. (2020). The COVID‐19 pandemic and mental health impacts. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 29(3), 315. https://doi.org/10.1111/INM.12726
79. Van Prooijen, J.-W. and Acker, M. (2015). The influence of control on belief in conspiracy theories: conceptual and applied extensions. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29(5), 753–761. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3161
80. Van Prooijen, J.-W., Krouwel, A. P. M. and Pollet, T. V. (2015). Political extremism predicts belief in conspiracy theories. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6(5), 570–578. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550614567356
81. Vander Haegen, M. and Etienne, A. M. (2016). Cognitive processes across anxiety disorders related to intolerance of uncertainty: Clinical review, Cogent Psychology, 3(1), 1215773. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2016.1215773
82. Varis, P. and Blommaert, J. (2015). Conviviality and collectives on social media: Virality, memes, and new social structures. Multilingual Margins, 2(1), 31–45. http://scns.uwc.ac.za/index.php/mm/article/view/55/37
83. Vaterlaus, J. M., Spruance, L. A., and Patten, E. V. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing in the United States: A mixed-methods study on lived experiences and well-being. The Social Science Journal. https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2020.1852856
84. Vilca, L. W., Chávez, B. V., Fernández, Y. S., Caycho-Rodríguez, T. and White, M. (2023). Impact of the fear of catching Covid-19 on mental health in undergraduate students: A predictive model for anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Current Psychology, 42(16), 13231-13238. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02542-5
85. Warner, B. R. and Neville-Shepard, R. (2014). Echoes of a conspiracy: birthers, truthers, and the cultivation of extremism. Communication Quarterly, 62(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2013.822407
86. Whitson, J. A. and Galinsky, A. D. (2008). Lacking control increases illusory pattern perception. Science, 322(5898), 115–117. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1159845
87. World Health Organization. (2020, Oct 12). WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---12-october-2020
88. Yagıcı Çiftçi, M. and Karaahmetoğlu, C. (2022, March 11). Türkiye'nin koronavirüse karşı verdiği mücadelede 2 yıl geride kaldı [2 Years Behind in Turkey's Fight Against Coronavirus]. TRT Haber, https://www.trthaber.com/haber/koronavirus/turkiyenin-koronaviruse-karsi-verdigi-mucadelede-2-yil-geride-kaldi-662776.html