Abstract
Although past research has identified the relationship between political stance and conspiracy beliefs, few studies have scrutinized this relationship in the context of COVID-19 vaccines, and little has been known about the emotional root of conspiracy beliefs, as well as how emotions would interact with political stance in shaping publics’ vaccine-related conspiracy beliefs. Introducing the affective intelligence theory to the research of conspiracy theories, this study explores the possible moderating effect of emotional distress on the association between voting choice and anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs. A cross-national survey covering Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan (n = 2,852) has been conducted for empirical investigation. The results show that people voting for the incumbent in the former election are less likely to endorse anti-vaccine conspiracy theories while those experiencing greater emotional distress are more inclined to embrace those conspiracy theories. Moreover, experiencing greater emotional distress is found to attenuate the negative relationship between voting choice and anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs. This study advances our understanding of conspiracy beliefs by identifying an underlying psychological mechanism. This study also enriches the literature of AIT by testing its validity in addressing quasi-political issues like anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 28 May 2023 |
| Event | 73rd Annual International Communication Association Conference (ICA 2023): Reclaiming Authenticity in Communication - Tonronto, Toronto, Canada Duration: 25 May 2023 → 29 May 2023 https://www.icahdq.org/page/annual-conference |
Conference
| Conference | 73rd Annual International Communication Association Conference (ICA 2023) |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | ICA23 |
| Place | Canada |
| City | Toronto |
| Period | 25/05/23 → 29/05/23 |
| Internet address |
Funding
This work was supported by the Strategic Research Project of City University of Hong Kong [grant number 7005823]; and the Knowledge Transfer Earmarked Fund from Hong Kong University Grants Committee [grant number 6354048]. The funders had no role in the design of the study; the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data; the writing of the manuscript; or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Research Keywords
- COVID-19
- conspiracy theories
- vaccine
- vote
- emotional distress
- affective intelligence theory
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