Browsing by Author "Cemalcilar, Zeynep"

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Citation Count: 2
Biased perceptions against female scientists affect intentions to get vaccinated for COVID-19
(Sage Publications Ltd, 2022) Dogan, Isminaz; Baruh, Lemi; Cemalcilar, Zeynep; Kuru, Ozan; Yildirim, Kerem; Carkoglu, Ali
Based on role congruity theory, we investigated how gender bias may influence public attitudes toward the vaccine in Turkey. Using a between-subjects design, we tested whether an emphasis on the female versus the male scientist as the vaccine's inventor in a news story influenced attitudes about the BioNTech vaccine and vaccination intentions. Partly confirming role congruity theory, three-way interaction results from 665 participants demonstrated that among male participants with a stronger belief in traditional gender roles (compared to males with lower belief), the presence of the female inventor, either by herself or together with the male inventor, decreased the perceived efficacy and safety of the vaccine and reduced intentions to be vaccinated by the BioNTech vaccine. We did not observe such differences for women. These findings highlight how gender bias may influence individuals' information processing and decision making in a way that may have negative consequences for public health.
Citation Count: 0
Cruel optimism of waiting: precarity experiences of young adults in Turkey
(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2023) Cöbek, Gözde; Kucuk, Bermal; Cobek, Gozde; Bayram, Sidar; Cemalcilar, Zeynep
This paper examines young adults' everyday experiences of precarity. Defining precarity as a socioeconomic and affective condition, it offers waiting as an analytical tool to explore the intersection of precarity and the family as a locus of social security and dependency. Based on the in-depth interviews with young adults (N = 52), it investigates the affective and temporal dimensions of precarity that play out in the waiting practices of young adults in Turkey. Focusing on these practices, we show how conditions of precarity foster an entrepreneurial mindset and never-ending self-enterprise while establishing forms of cruel attachments and dependencies. Following Berlant's notion of cruel optimism, we demonstrate how young adults become paradoxically dependent on their familial bonds and temporary job market to become independent individuals. We conclude that the family as an agent of individualization and normalization of precarity (re-)emerges as the backbone of neoliberal restructuring. However, such familial bonds within the context of fragmented biographies reinforce cruel attachments in which sustaining the aspirations for independence makes precarious young adults more dependent on their families.
Citation Count: 1
Partisan Bias in COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories: News Reliance and the Moderating Role of Trust in Health Authorities
(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2023) Wu, Yuanyuan; Kuru, Ozan; Baruh, Lemi; Carkoglu, Ali; Cemalcilar, Zeynep; Yildirim, Kerem
Neglecting the role of political bias in the public's perceptions of health authorities could be deceptive when studying potentially politicized COVID-19 conspiracy theories (CCTs); however, previous studies often treated health authorities as a single entity and did not distinguish between different types of CCTs. Drawing from motivated reasoning theory, we investigate the politically motivated nature of CCTs by examining their associations with individuals' media reliance, party identification, conspiratorial mentality, and importantly, trust in (politicized or independent) health authorities. In a national survey conducted in late 2020 (N = 2,239) in Turkey, a heavily polarized context, we found that not accounting for political identities shown in CCTs and health authorities could be misleading. While those with a strong conspiracy mentality were more likely to endorse all types of CCTs, party identification and trust in different types of health authorities led people to believe in certain CCTs aligning with their political attitudes. The influence of media reliance on CCTs depended on the level of trust in health authorities, again suggestive of the influence of political partialities.