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When Believing in Divine Immanence Explains Vaccine Hesitancy: A Matter of Conspiracy Beliefs?

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  • Riccardo Ladini

    (Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan, Italy)

  • Cristiano Vezzoni

    (Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan, Italy)

Abstract

This article analyzes the relationship between religiosity and vaccine hesitancy by highlighting the role of a specific dimension of religiosity that makes some people more prone to explaining health conditions as a divine agency—the belief in the immanent presence of the divine in everyday life. Accordingly, these people may undervalue the role of vaccination as a solution to cope with a pandemic and may be more skeptical of vaccines. We suggest a mechanism explaining the relationship between religiosity and vaccine hesitancy by focusing on the mediating role of beliefs in conspiracy theories, given that belief in divine immanence and conspiracy theories share the common trait of attributing agency to hidden forces. Beliefs in conspiracy theories, in turn, have been shown to be among the strongest predictors of vaccine hesitancy. By using a moderated mediation analysis on Italian survey data collected during the Covid-19 pandemic, we show that such a mechanism helps explain the relationship between believing in divine immanence and vaccine hesitancy among people not adhering to institutional religiosity. In contrast, this mechanism does not apply when the immanent conception of the divine is framed within a system of beliefs belonging to institutional religion.

Suggested Citation

  • Riccardo Ladini & Cristiano Vezzoni, 2022. "When Believing in Divine Immanence Explains Vaccine Hesitancy: A Matter of Conspiracy Beliefs?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(4), pages 168-176.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v10:y:2022:i:4:p:168-176
    DOI: 10.17645/pag.v10i4.5766
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Makarovs, Kirils & Achterberg, Peter, 2017. "Contextualizing educational differences in “vaccination uptake”: A thirty nation survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 1-10.
    2. Streefland, Pieter H., 2001. "Public doubts about vaccination safety and resistance against vaccination," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 159-172, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Oliver Fernando Hidalgo & Alexander Yendell, 2022. "The Role of Religions and Conspiracy Theories in Democratic and Authoritarian Regimes," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(4), pages 132-134.

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