The mediating role of trust and collective responsibility in the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and the desire to get the covid-19 vaccine in students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences

The study of covid-19 vaccines and its psychological effects, including acceptance or doubt about these effects, is a complex phenomenon that requires further study. This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the mediating role of trust and collective responsibility in the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and willingness to get the covid-19 vaccine in students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.

The present study was a correlational descriptive study, and its statistical society consisted of all students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 1401-1402. The number of sample members in this research was considered to be 300 people who were selected by cluster random sampling method. To collect the data, the scale of the COVID-19 Conspiracy Beliefs, the scale of COVID-19 Vaccination Intention, and the scale of trust and Collective responsibility were used. Data were analyzed using path analysis and SPSS-22 and Lisrel 8.8. A significance level of 0.05 was considered.

The age range of the subjects was between 18 and 30 years, with an average age of 21.75 and a standard deviation of age of 1.93. The findings of the research showed that the highest correlation between willingness to get vaccinated and collective responsibility (p<0.01 and r=0.67) and the lowest correlation between trust and risk rejection (p<0.01 and r=-0.16) was observed. In addition, the indirect effect of risk acceptance (β = -0.02) and risk rejection (β = -0.04) on the willingness to get vaccinated and through trust and the indirect effect of risk acceptance (β = -0.04) and risk rejection (β = -0.16) on willingness to get vaccinated through responsibility was negative and significant.

Considering the mediating role of trust and responsibility in the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and the desire to get the Covid-19 vaccine, it seems necessary to consider the role of these constructs when counseling, treating, and educating medical science students.