The demographic distribution of the sample.

While conspiracy theories have received extensive attention in the realm of misinformation, there has been limited research exploring the impact of conspiracy mentality on individuals’ preventive behaviors during acute public health crises. This study investigates how conspiracy mentality may affect compliance with preventive health measures necessary to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, and the underlying emotional and cognitive mediators. Data was collected through a survey among 1878 Chinese respondents at the conclusion of the pandemic. The results indicate that individuals with higher levels of conspiracy mentality are significantly less engaged in preventive behaviors. Furthermore, this correlation is mediated by a sequence of mediating factors, starting from anger leading to institutional distrust and fear leading to perceived risk. Conspiracists’ response mode can be described as a state of "attentive immobility," in which the impact of heightened institutional distrust outweighs their perceptions of risk, ultimately reducing engagement in preventive behaviors during crises. These findings underscore the importance of debunking initiatives that aim to address and mitigate the negative consequences of conspiracy mentality by targeting the mediating psychological processes during future pandemic threats.尽管阴谋论在虚假信息研究领域已受到广泛关注，但针对阴谋思维（conspiracy mentality）在突发公共卫生危机期间对个体预防行为的影响展开的研究仍较为匮乏。本研究探讨了阴谋思维如何影响个体对防控新冠疫情（COVID-19 pandemic）所需的健康预防措施的依从性，以及其中潜在的情绪与认知中介变量。本研究在新冠疫情尾声阶段，通过问卷调查收集了1878名中国受访者的数据。研究结果显示，阴谋思维水平更高的个体参与预防行为的程度显著更低。进一步而言，该相关性由一系列中介因素共同介导：愤怒引发对公共机构的不信任，恐惧则催生个体的风险感知。阴谋论信奉者的应对模式可被描述为一种‘警觉性僵滞（attentive immobility）’状态：此时，其对公共机构的高强度不信任感的影响超过了自身的风险感知，最终导致其在危机中参与预防行为的程度降低。本研究结果凸显了辟谣举措的重要性：在未来应对疫情威胁时，可通过靶向干预上述中介心理过程，以化解并削弱阴谋思维带来的负面影响。