Existential anxiety

Objective  The Covid-19 epidemic has caused a great deal of concern for the people, and even worse, the issue of vaccination and its dangers is still relevant today.This study aimed to mediate the role of existential anxiety and conspiracy beliefs in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and the intention to get vaccinated. Methods   The type of research is  a descriptive correlation. The statistical population of the study included Iranian adults in the age range of 20 to 65 years, from which 533 people were randomly selected and responded to the online survey. The data were analyzed by the Pearson correlation coefficient method and structural equation model. Five questionnaires including fear of COVID-19, existential anxiety, Conspiracy beliefs and Intention to get vaccinated, were distributed among the research samples. Results  The results showed that there was a positive and significant correlation between fear of Covid-19 with existential anxiety and intention to get vaccinated (P <0.01), also, there is a positive and significant correlation between existential anxiety and conspiracy beliefs (P <0.01) and a negative and significant correlation between existential anxiety and conspiracy beliefs to get vaccinated (P <0.01). Conclusion    The model analysis also showed that when there are anxiety and conspiracy theories between fear of Covid-19 and the intention to get vaccinated, people reduce their desire to get vaccinated.

Over the past century, the United Kingdom has transitioned through various international roles, from a global superpower during its imperial era to a key partner within the European Union. Brexit, however, has triggered what many scholars describe as a foreign policy ‘identity crisis’. This paper challenges this conventional narrative by applying an ontological security framework to investigate how EU membership and the European integration process themselves represented an identity crisis for many Britons. The analysis explores the emotional motives behind Brexit by examining how Euroscepticism, combined with a desire to reclaim Britain’s ‘islandness’ identity, contributed to the decision to leave the European Union. Employing a thematic narrative analysis, the research examines the interaction between identity-based motivations and broader political and historical contexts to reveal new understandings of the multifaceted factors driving Brexit and its enduring effects. By investigating ontological security concepts such as existential threat, continuity disruption, and the restoration of narrative identity, the paper argues that EU integration itself, rather than Brexit, was perceived by many as the principal threat to Britain’s biographical narrative and national identity. These insights contribute to understanding how identity-based anxieties influence major political decisions and carry implications for policymaking and EU–UK relations moving forward.