Partisan Bias in COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories: News Reliance and the Moderating Role of Trust in Health Authorities

News Media Framing, Institutional Trust, and Attitudes Toward the Unvaccinated. An Experimental Study of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Finland

“…The heuristic idea is highlighted by how a high level of trust prevents opinions from changing according to media frames. In this respect, the result is also in line with current research that suggests that high trust predicts lower receptivity to information that challenges mainstream views and is critical toward authoritarians (Miller et al, 2016;Wu et al, 2023). Although the news frames we presented did not criticize the prevailing policy, they highlighted facts about the risks of vaccination that were partly against the general discourse that everyone should get vaccinated.…”

“…In line with the political trust-as-heuristic model (see Hetherington, 2005), high political trust can serve as a cognitive shortcut for making specific decisions that align with the dominant political consensus. Insights from studies in health communication indicate that individuals with a high level of trust tend to be less receptive to information that challenges mainstream viewpoints, particularly information that criticizes those in positions of authority (Wu et al, 2023). Additionally, it seems that high trust can act as a defense mechanism against endorsing conspiracy theories.…”