Table 2.

Standardized direct and indirect effects of the SEM.

	Trust in social actors ß (SE) [95% CI]	Wish for a strong leader ß (SE) [95% CI]
Direct effects
Identification with Italians	0.273*** (0.074)[0.123, 0.412]	0.075 (0.066)[−0.061, 0.202]
Identification with Europeans	0.100 (0.077)[−0.054, 0.254]	−0.214** (0.066)[−0.339, −0.078]
Belief in conspiracy theories	−0.340*** (0.074)[−0.523, −0.234]	0.264*** (0.068)[0.130, 0.396]
Trust		−0.207** (0.082)[−0.368, −0.045]
Indirect effects
Identification with Italians ➔ Trust ➔		−0.057* (0.028)[−0.121, −0.010]
Identification with Europeans ➔ Trust ➔		−0.021 (0.020)[−0.070, 0.009]
Beliefs in conspiracy theories ➔ Trust ➔		0.079** (0.034)[0.017, 0.150]
Covariate variables
Political orientation	−0.097 (0.074)[−0.243, 0.045]	0.156* (0.063)[0.026, 0.272]
Experience with COVID-19	−0.022 (0.084)[−0.186, 0.148]	−0.041 (0.068)[−0.171, 0.095]

^*p < 0.05;

^**p < 0.01;

^***p < 0.001.