Infectious diseases pose significant challenges to public health, leading to illness and even death. Vaccinations are vital for protecting society, yet beliefs in conspiracy theories related to infectious diseases increase vaccine hesitancy. This paper delves into vaccination decisions in the context of COVID‐19, which continues to strain the health care system. While past research focuses on countering conspiratorial beliefs with cognitive persuasion interventions, we propose a social intervention as an alternative. Our novel intervention seeks to mitigate the effects of conspiratorial beliefs by fostering individuals' interdependent self‐construal – viewing oneself in the context of social relationships. Interdependent self‐construal was operationalized in multiple ways (measured in Studies 1, 2 and 3; manipulated to test causality in Studies 4 and 5). Conspiratorial beliefs were also manipulated in Study 5. The results show that the association between conspiratorial beliefs and vaccine hesitancy is weakened among individuals whose interdependent self‐construal is more accessible. Moreover, this effect was mediated by prosocial motivation. We discuss the implications of our findings for developing and communicating health policies and propose potential contexts where this intervention may be relevant, thereby providing valuable insights into enhancing societal well‐being in the face of conspiratorial beliefs.

中文翻译：

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相互依存的自我解释在减轻阴谋论信念对疫苗接受度的影响中的作用


传染病对公共卫生构成重大挑战，导致疾病甚至死亡。疫苗接种对于保护社会至关重要，但对与传染病相关的阴谋论的信仰增加了疫苗犹豫。本文深入探讨了 COVID-19 背景下的疫苗接种决策，COVID-19 继续给医疗保健系统带来压力。虽然过去的研究侧重于通过认知说服干预来对抗阴谋论信念，但我们提出了社会干预作为替代方案。我们的新颖干预旨在通过培养个人相互依存的自我建构来减轻阴谋论信念的影响——在社会关系的背景下看待自己。相互依赖的自我建构以多种方式进行操作（在研究 1、2 和 3 中测量;在研究 4 和 5 中纵以测试因果关系）。阴谋论信念在研究 5 中也纵。结果表明，阴谋论信念与疫苗犹豫之间的关联在相互依存的自我建构更容易获得的个体中被削弱。此外，这种效应是由亲社会动机介导的。我们讨论了我们的研究结果对制定和传播卫生政策的影响，并提出了这种干预可能相关的潜在背景，从而为在面对阴谋论信念时提高社会福祉提供有价值的见解。