Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36429507›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2022

The Relationship between the Need for Closure and Coronavirus Fear: The Mediating Effect of Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories about COVID-19.

Sara Staszak, Julia Maciejowska, Wiktoria Urjasz, Tomasz Misiuro, Andrzej Cudo

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Prevalence, nature, and determinants of COVID-19-related conspiracy theories among healthcare workers: a scoping review.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Sara StaszakInstitute of Psychology, University of Zielona Góra, 65-417 Zielona Góra, Poland.
Julia MaciejowskaInstitute of Psychology, University of Zielona Góra, 65-417 Zielona Góra, Poland.
Wiktoria UrjaszInstitute of Psychology, University of Zielona Góra, 65-417 Zielona Góra, Poland.
Tomasz MisiuroInstitute of Psychology, University of Zielona Góra, 65-417 Zielona Góra, Poland.ORCID 0000-0001-9525-780X
Andrzej CudoDepartment of Experimental Psychology, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.ORCID 0000-0001-7424-8576

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between fear of the coronavirus, belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, and dimensions of the need for cognitive closure. As there is evidence of associations between these variables, we hypothesized that the relationship between the need for closure dimensions and coronavirus fear may be mediated by conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19. We analyzed the results from 380 individuals who completed online versions of three scales: the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, a short version of the Need for Closure Scale, and-designed for this study-the Conspiracy Theories about the Coronavirus Scale. The results showed that belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories fully mediated the relationship between the fear of the coronavirus and avoidance of ambiguity, as well as closed-mindedness. The findings provided evidence that beliefs in conspiracy theories may play a significant role in reducing the level of coronavirus fear in people with high levels of these traits. In addition, a partial mediation between the fear of the coronavirus and the need for predictability was found. The limitations and implications of the research are discussed.

Indexed as

COVID-19FearHumansconspiracy beliefsconspiracy theoriescoronavirus fearCOVID-19the need for cognitive closure

Identifiers

PMID36429507
PMCPMC9690611

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.