Belief in a Dangerous World and Emotions During COVID-19 Pandemic: the Mediating Role of Conspiracy Beliefs and Trust In Authority

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

10.48308/apsy.2023.232763.1528

Abstract

Aim: Belief in a dangerous world (BDW) is a chronic belief that the world is threatening. The purpose of this study was to test the role of this belief in determining experience of emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic as mediated by conspiracy beliefs and trust in the COVID-19 management committee as the authority figure associated with this context. Method: Participants in this correlational study were 431 individuals (71% female, mean age 33.7 years) who responded to the BDW scale, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, trust in the COVID-19 management committee, and experience of positive and negative emotions. Structural equation modeling was used to test for the role of BDW in predicting positive and negative emotions as mediated by conspiracy beliefs and trust in the COVID-19 management committee. Results: The Cronbach alpha for the BDW scale was satisfactory (.80), and excluding the ninth item due to weak factor loading in confirmatory factor analysis was suggested. BDW predicted positive emotions in a negative, but negative emotions in a positive direction (p < .05). COVID conspiracy beliefs and trust in the COVID management committee mediated the relationship between BDW and negative emotions (p < .05) but not positive emotions. Conclusion: The relationship between BDW and perceptions and emotions regarding COVID supported expectations. However, a bigger proportion of negative than positive emotions was predicted which indicates the contribution of different mechanisms in explaining the effect of this belief on positive emotions.

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Main Subjects


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