Prikaz sociopsihološkoga profila osoba koje se oklijevaju cijepiti i odbijaju cijepljenje protiv bolesti COVID-19

Vaccination hesitation and rejection is one of the major health risks in the epidemics of any infectious diseases with profound implications for public health in general. In order to provide a deeper insight into vaccine hesitation and rejection, we collected the data from individuals who did not take the COVID-19 vaccine in Serbia (N = 534), since the recently ended pandemic also confirmed the importance of these issues. We analyzed the associations between future vaccination intention and several psychological constructs including conspiracy ideation, concerns about contracting a disease and having major health problems, conservatism, pro-vaccination immediate social surroundings and empathy. An increased possibility for future vaccination was negatively related to conspiracy ideation and conservatism measures but positively associated with vaccination support from important others and threat perception of infectious disease and health concerns. Conspiracy beliefs mediated the links from both conservatism and vaccination support from important others toward future vaccinations intention, while threat perception of infection mediated the link between vaccination support and the criterion measure. Present findings enable a deeper understanding of vaccine hesitation and rejection and provide guidelines for psychologists and public health workers for facilitating vaccination against infectious disease.Oklijevanje u cijepljenju i odbijanje cijepljenja glavni su zdravstveni rizici u epidemijama bilo koje zarazne bolesti, a koji imaju ozbiljne posljedice za opće javno zdravlje. Da bismo pružili dublji uvid u oklijevanje u cijepljenju i odbijanje cijepljenja, prikupili smo podatke od pojedinaca koji se nisu cijepili protiv bolesti COVID-19 u Srbiji (N = 534) jer je i nedavno završena pandemija potvrdila važnost tih pitanja. Analizirali smo povezanost između budućih namjera cijepljenja i nekoliko psiholoških konstrukata, uključujući vjerovanje u teorije zavjera, zabrinutost zbog potencijalne zaraze bolešću i ozbiljnih zdravstvenih problema, konzervativizam, neposredno društveno okružje koje podržava cijepljenje te suosjećanje. Povećana mogućnost budućega cijepljenja bila je negativno povezana s vjerovanjem u teorije zavjera i mjerama konzervativizma, ali pozitivno povezana s potporom cijepljenju važnih drugih osoba i percepcijom veće  prijetnje od zaraznih bolesti i zdravstvenih problema. Vjerovanja u različite teorije zavjera posredovala su u vezama između konzervativizma i potpore cijepljenju važnih drugih osoba prema budućim namjerama cijepljenja, dok je percepcija prijetnje od zaraze posredovala u vezi između potpore cijepljenju i kriterijske mjere. Te spoznaje omogućuju dublje razumijevanje oklijevanja u cijepljenju i odbijanja cijepljenja te psiholozima i javnozdravstvenim djelatnicima daju smjernice za poboljšavanje obuhvata cijepljenja protiv zaraznih bolesti

Endorsement and Social Role of the Ethos of Conflict in Serbia

The study’s aims are to analyze the endorsement of the ethos of conflict (EoC )‎narrative in the Serbian-Albanian conflict among the adults in Serbia, its relation ‎to political conservatism, and its role in pushing conservative political action. A total of N = 1613 adults (aged 18+) were recruited for face-to-face interviewing, ‎in a representative sampling procedure, in December 2019 in Serbia.‎ The results show high endorsement of EoC in the Serbian-Albanian fray; the‎ mediation effect of EoC (having both high EoC and high conservatism is associated‎ with greater political activism); the relation between EoC and political‎ activism is moderated by age (the older population endorsing higher EoC‎ was more politically active). In the future, we should address more actively the‎ mobilizers of reactionary political actions in public and individual spheres, to‎ better understand the mechanisms for achieving long-term peace.

The psychological science accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data

The Psychological Science Accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data

PRIMORDIALISTIC CONCEPT OF NATIONAL IDENTITY IN SERBIA 1

Usually, two rivaling concepts of national identity are taken into consideration: primordialism, stemming from the principle that national identity is an unchangeable, unyielding and basic human category, given by birth and colored with irrational feelings; and instrumentalism, claiming that national identity is changeable, fluid and gain producing. This study investigated the dominant concept of national identity in Serbia and was based on two surveys conducted in August 2003 (n = 1004) and August 2006 (n = 1005) on representative samples of eligible voters. Both studies confirmed dominancy of the primordial concept of national identity in contemporary Serbia. Data from the 2006 survey point an even more homogenized primordial concept (defined by a single factor) of national identity relative to the data from the 2003 survey. Primordial concept of national identity suppresses the importance of the state, culture and politics. In times of strong social turbulences, individual is moving away from the sociallydependent concept of national identity towards an individualistic, familial concept of national identity

Understanding Rejection and Hesitancy Towards COVID-19 Vaccination: Integrated Qualitative and Quantitative Approach

We asked the unvaccinated participants (N=534) why they did not take the vaccine, what could motivate them to take a vaccine and their future vaccination intentions, and analyzed the associations between these measures and several contextual and dispositional constructs including conspiracy ideation, concerns about contracting a disease and having major health problems, conservatism, pro-vaccination social surroundings and empathy. The main reasons for not getting vaccinated was fear, a lack of trust in the vaccines, and a belief that vaccination is unnecessary; reasons for future vaccination included restored confidence in vaccines, formal context. A significant proportion of participants stated that there is nothing that could motivate them to get vaccinated. An increased possibility for future vaccination was negatively related to conspiracy ideation and conservatism measures, but positively associated with social support for vaccination and a fear of infectious disease and health concerns. Conspiracy beliefs and fear of illness mediated the link between conservatism, social support, and vaccination intentions. Cognitive empathy was only indirectly positively related to vaccination intentions via low conspiracy ideation

Relationship between online and offline civic participation

The study investigated psychological predictors of traditional and online civic activism, as well as factors moderating the relationship between the two on a representative sample of Serbian citizens (N=2014). Hierarchical regression demonstrated that only extraversion was a significant predictor of both forms of activism: extraverts were more likely to take both virtual and real-life civic actions, whilst self-esteem and political involvement remained insignificant predictors. Additionally, the relationship between online and offline participation was moderated by self-efficacy: the online to offline activism relationship was strongest in the case of high self-efficacy and weakest in the case of low self-efficacy. Extraversion seems to dispose people to engage in real-life, but in virtual actions as well. Higher self-efficacy is needed for activism "overflow", i.e. to translate virtual into real civic actions

Psychological predictors of addictive social networking sites use: The case of Serbia

The popularity of social networking sites (SNS) changed to a great extent not only media environment, but also everyday life activities of modern humans. Despite their obvious benefits in terms of communication, there is evidence of addictive tendencies in SNS use. The study examined psychological and socio-demographic predictors of these addictive tendencies in Serbian SNS users drawn from a representative sample (N = 2014), having in mind that Serbia has Facebook penetration rate over European average. Results indicate a low incidence of self-reported addictive tendencies, with some individual differences worth addressing. We developed and tested exhaustive model that included three sets of predictors (socio-demographic, psychological and exposure to traditional media), as well as restrictive models that systematically excluded group by group. Path analysis revealed that psychological traits were stronger predictors than socio-demographic ones: people with lower self-esteem, lower general self-efficacy and higher introversion were more likely to report addictive SNS use. Although our results in general support the so called "social compensation hypothesis", it can be due to the focus on addictive tendencies instead of other indicators of SNS use