Intentions to be Vaccinated Against COVID-19: The Role of Prosociality and Conspiracy Beliefs across 20 Countries

Abstract

Understanding the determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake is important to inform policy decisions and plan vaccination campaigns. The aims of this research were to: (1) explore the individual-and countrylevel determinants of intentions to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, and (2) examine worldwide variation in vaccination intentions. This cross-sectional online survey was conducted during the first wave of the pandemic, involving 6697 respondents across 20 countries. Results showed that 72.9% of participants reported positive intentions to be vaccinated against COVID-19, whereas 16.8% were undecided, and 10.3% reported they would not be vaccinated. At the individual level, prosociality was a significant positive predictor of vaccination intentions, whereas generic beliefs in conspiracy theories and religiosity were negative predictors. Country-level determinants, including cultural dimensions of individualism/collectivism and power distance, were not significant predictors of vaccination intentions. Altogether, this study identifies individual-level predictors that are common across multiple countries, provides further evidence on the importance of combating conspiracy theories, involving religious institutions in vaccination campaigns, and stimulating prosocial motives to encourage vaccine uptake.

Evidence of Validity and Measurement Invariance by Gender of the Vaccination Attitudes Examination (VAX) Scale in Colombian University Students

“…The diversity of predictive psychosocial factors of the acceptance of vaccination against COVID-19 has been pointed out, such as political opinions, attitudes towards science, antisocial tendencies [ 7 ], or prosociality [ 8 ]. An international study that included 24 countries and more than 5000 participants found that anti-vaccine attitudes were more frequent in people who had a high level of conspiratorial thinking.…”

Warmth and competence perceptions of key protagonists are associated with containment measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from 35 countries

“…Previous studies suggested a number of factors that influence the degree to which people in different societies supported or rejected COVID-19 pandemic-related health behaviors, including selfinterest, pro-sociality, religiosity, conspiracy beliefs, trust, national identification, perceived effectiveness, and quality of institutions (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). In this paper, we argue that in order to understand why people support or oppose certain measures, it is crucial to understand (I) which individuals, groups, social movements, or organizations (referred to as 'protagonists' in the following) people identify as relevant and (II) how they are evaluated.…”

Warmth and competence perceptions of key protagonists are associated with containment measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from 35 countries

“…Understanding why people approve of, reject, or comply with measures aimed at reducing the spread of contagious viruses or the severity of infections is important for researchers, policymakers, and those who instantiate such measures. Such an understanding could help us to effectively cope with future pandemics and serve as a starting point to design effective interventions to motivate desirable health outcomes.Previous studies suggest a number of factors that influence the degree to which people in different societies support or reject COVID-19 pandemic-related health behaviors, such as self-interest, pro-sociality, religiosity, conspiracy beliefs, trust, national identification, perceived effectiveness, and quality of institutions [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] . In this paper, we add to this literature by arguing that to understand why people support or oppose certain measures, it is crucial to understand: (I) which individuals, groups, social movements, or organizations (referred to as 'protagonists' in the following) people identify as relevant, and (II) how people perceive these protagonists.…”

“…Previous studies suggest a number of factors that influence the degree to which people in different societies support or reject COVID-19 pandemic-related health behaviors, such as self-interest, pro-sociality, religiosity, conspiracy beliefs, trust, national identification, perceived effectiveness, and quality of institutions [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] . In this paper, we add to this literature by arguing that to understand why people support or oppose certain measures, it is crucial to understand: (I) which individuals, groups, social movements, or organizations (referred to as 'protagonists' in the following) people identify as relevant, and (II) how people perceive these protagonists.…”