Willingness to participate in medical research: Unraveling the roles of scientific literacy and beliefs about medical researchers

This study examines how scientific literacy dimensions—nature of science understanding, scientific reasoning, positive beliefs about science, and interest in science—are related to willingness to participate in medical research, mediated by conspiracy beliefs about and trust in medical researchers. Survey data were collected from a sample of 600 Slovaks recruited via an online panel. Regression-based mediation analysis revealed that positive beliefs about science and interest in science exhibited total and indirect associations with willingness to participate in medical research. By contrast, nature of science understanding and scientific reasoning were related to willingness to participate in medical research only indirectly. The indirect pathways of all scientific literacy dimensions operated through conspiracy beliefs about and trust in medical researchers, with trust showing the strongest positive association with willingness to participate in medical research. These findings highlight that the association between scientific literacy and willingness to participate in medical research is rather complex, mediated by beliefs about medical researchers. Addressing these beliefs alongside scientific literacy promotion may enhance public willingness to participate in medical research.