Cross-cultural investigation of the relationship between social identity, trusting the system, COVID-19 vaccine adherence and conspiratorial beliefs

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dc.citation.issue3
dc.citation.volume28
dc.contributor.authorValdes EA
dc.contributor.authorDelos Santos JJI
dc.contributor.authorLiu JH
dc.date.accessioned2025-07-02T03:48:10Z
dc.date.available2025-07-02T03:48:10Z
dc.date.issued2025-09-01
dc.description.abstractUnderstanding how individual beliefs and societal values influence support for measures to prevent COVID-19 transmission and risk is vital to developing and implementing effective prevention policies. Surges in COVID-19 infections continue to be prevalent worldwide, and strategies to address the increase in vaccine hesitancy and related conspiracy theories are enacted globally. Using the lenses of the social identity approach and system justification theory, we examined how individual-level conceptualizations of identity, system legitimacy, conspiracy beliefs and trust in science, government and healthcare influence an uptick in COVID-19 vaccine adherence. Data from an international survey of adults from China, the Philippines and the United States (N = 358; Study 1) and a six-country two-wave stratified online sample (N = 6138; Study 2) allowed the present research to investigate how cultural values and governmental policies intersect with COVID-19 risk perception and vaccine hesitancy. The most robust findings were: (1) identifying with a superordinate global identity was associated with greater vaccine adherence; (2) having a stronger subordinate national identity was associated with greater vaccine hesitancy; and (3) the association between having a strong national identity and the endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy theories was mediated by system justification. The results presented are used to discuss strategies for increasing vaccine uptake globally for future pandemics.
dc.description.confidentialfalse
dc.edition.editionSeptember 2025
dc.identifier.citationValdes EA, Delos Santos JJI, Liu JH. (2025). Cross-cultural investigation of the relationship between social identity, trusting the system, COVID-19 vaccine adherence and conspiratorial beliefs. Asian Journal of Social Psychology. 28. 3.
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/ajsp.70024
dc.identifier.eissn1467-839X
dc.identifier.elements-typejournal-article
dc.identifier.issn1367-2223
dc.identifier.numbere70024
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/73155
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherAsian Association of Social Psychology and John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd
dc.publisher.urihttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajsp.70024
dc.relation.isPartOfAsian Journal of Social Psychology
dc.rights(c) The author/sen
dc.rights.licenseCC BYen
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectconspiracy theories
dc.subjectCOVID-19
dc.subjectglobal human identity
dc.subjectnational identity
dc.subjectsystem justification
dc.subjectvaccine hesitancy
dc.titleCross-cultural investigation of the relationship between social identity, trusting the system, COVID-19 vaccine adherence and conspiratorial beliefs
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.elements-id501285
pubs.organisational-groupOther
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