ПРЕДИЗВИКАТЕЛСТВОТО COVID-19: УБЕЖДЕНИЯ И ТЪРСЕНЕ НА ИНФОРМАЦИЯ В УСЛОВИЯТА НА ПАНДЕМИЯ
THE CHALLENGE COVID-19: BELIEFS AND INFORMATION SEEKING IN THE CONTEXT OF PANDEMIC

Author(s): Ilina Nacheva, Antoaneta Hristova
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Psychology, Sociology, Social psychology and group interaction, Health and medicine and law
Published by: Университет за национално и световно стопанство (УНСС)
Keywords: COVID-19; vaccine attitudes; healthcare; information seeking
Summary/Abstract: The present study aims to analyze the relationship between personal beliefs related to the coronavirus and vaccines against COVID-19, attitudes towards messages from official health authorities, and active information seeking about developing treatments and vaccines. For this purpose, data from a study representative of the adult population of Bulgaria and conducted in the phase of the highest morbidity were used. A significant positive correlation was found between maintaining a belief that COVID-19 poses a serious threat to human health (corresponding to the current scientific and medical opinions at the time of the study) and trust in the health information disclosed by the responsible institutions (r=0.530, p= 0.000), as well as with the active search for information on the topic (r=0.542, p=0.000). Holding a belief that the vaccines against COVID-19 represent a means of tracking and controlling the person (corresponding to popular conspiracy theories actively spread at the time of the study) was negatively correlated with trust in official health information (r=- 0.409, p=0.000) . A weak but significant negative relationship was also found with the declared information seeking about the development of treatments and vaccines (r =- 0.225, p =0.000). The results obtained and the conclusions drawn can serve in the development of communication strategies and the construction of information campaigns aimed at specific communities in future health crises.

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