Personality and adherence to the COVID-19 vaccine: the role of agreeableness and openness traits

Abstract

Aim of the studyThis study aimed to verify the relationship between personality traits and commitment to vaccination against COVID-19.Subject or material and methodsThe sample consisted of 595 Brazilian adults aged 18-72 years, who answered the Big Five Inventory 2 Short (BFI-2-S) and a COVID-19 Vaccine Questionnaire.ResultsHigher scores in agreeableness and openness were associated with a higher probability of adhering to the vaccination program, and higher scores in extroversion and lower scores in agreeableness were associated with poor adherence to the vaccination, anti-vaccine movement, and conspiracy beliefs against the vaccine (p ≤ .01).DiscussionThese results show the agreeableness and openness traits seem to be crucial for adherence to the vaccination program.ConclusionsThe findings indicate the importance of acknowledging agreeableness and openness traits as relevant in the adherence to the public policies programs against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Big Five Personality Traits and Willingness to Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19

“…Although conscientiousness was shown to be positively related to attitudes towards vaccinations in general (Lin & Wang, 2020) and COVID-19 preventive measures (Krupić et al, 2021;Blagov, 2021), it does not seem to impact COVID-19 vaccination willingness -at least not in our study. Thus, conscientiousness might foster the adherence to easily implemented measures such as handwashing or wearing masks, but not impact the decision whether to get vaccinated or not (for similar results see Gonçalves et al, 2022;Graeber et al, 2021). Also, the personality trait openness seems irrelevant for COVID-19 vaccination decisions within our sample.…”

“…Studies on the correlational relationship between personality and the willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 yield rather mixed findings. Conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness showed positive links in some studies but virtually no associations in others (Gonçalves et al, 2022;Graeber et al, 2021;Mo et al, 2021). For instance, Li (2022) observed a positive relationship between conscientiousness and the willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19, whereas other studies observed no significant correlation between these factors (Gonçalves et al, 2022;Graeber et al, 2021).…”

“…Conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness showed positive links in some studies but virtually no associations in others (Gonçalves et al, 2022;Graeber et al, 2021;Mo et al, 2021). For instance, Li (2022) observed a positive relationship between conscientiousness and the willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19, whereas other studies observed no significant correlation between these factors (Gonçalves et al, 2022;Graeber et al, 2021). For neuroticism, studies suggest no significant relationship with the willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 (Gonçalves et al, 2022, Howard, 2022.…”

“…Although also obtaining mixed findings for extraversion (cf. Gonçalves et al, 2022;Hyland et al, 2021), the majority of studies suggest that extraversion may not be a relevant factor for COVID-19 vaccination readiness (Gerretsen et al, 2021;Salerno et al, 2021).…”