“God is my vaccine”: the role of religion, conspiracy beliefs, and threat perception in relation to COVID-19 vaccination
“God is my vaccine”: the role of religion, conspiracy beliefs, and threat perception in relation to COVID-19 vaccination
StatusPost-Print
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Authors
Rabinovitch, Aleksandra
Bliuc, Ana-Maria
Strani, Katerina
Łycyniak, Ewa
Cristea, Mioara
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Date
2024-08-20
Publisher
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Current Psychology
Issue
46
Volume
43
Pages
Pages
1-8
ISSN
1046-1310
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Access date
2025-08-20
Abstract PL
Abstract EN
Religious and conspiracy beliefs are based on the assumption that a potent force exists which is capable of affecting people’s destinies. According to compensatory control theory, the belief in such a potent external agent may serve to alleviate feelings of uncertainty and help restore a sense of control. This is of particular relevance and importance to attitudes and behaviour of religious individuals towards vaccinations during the Covid-19 pandemic, where a belief in such a potent external force controlling events and destinies may have lowered the sense of threat posed by Covid-19 and in turn reduced vaccination uptake. To test this, we conducted a cross-sectional study of highly religious adults in Poland (N = 213) and found that the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses taken was negatively predicted by conspiracy beliefs, perceived closeness to God, and frequency of church attendance, and positively predicted by the perceived COVID-19 threat. Furthermore, mediation analysis revealed that both conspiracy beliefs and perceived closeness to God were related to a decreased perception of the COVID-19 threat, which in turn led to a decreased number of vaccine doses received. Our study offers important insights for public health professionals and identifies further research pathways on conspiracy and religious beliefs in relation to health-related behaviours.
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Keywords PL
Keywords EN
COVID-19 vaccination
Conspiracy beliefs
Religion
Threat perception
Conspiracy beliefs
Religion
Threat perception
Keywords other
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