COVID‐19 Vaccination Acceptance: A Case of Interplay Between Political and Health Dimensions
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Published:2023-03-20
Issue:4
Volume:44
Page:917-939
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ISSN:0162-895X
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Container-title:Political Psychology
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Political Psychology
Author:
da Silva Lima Kaline1ORCID,
Do Bú Emerson Araújo2ORCID,
Silva Washington Allysson Dantas3ORCID,
Miranda Mariana P.34ORCID,
Pereira Cicero Roberto23ORCID
Affiliation:
1. Federal University of Sergipe
2. University of Lisbon
3. Federal University of Paraíba
4. ISPA – Instituto Universitário
Abstract
Vaccines are essential for the eradication of diseases. Yet for many reasons, individuals do not embrace them completely. In the COVID‐19 pandemic and with the possibility of the Brazilian population's immunization against the disease, both political and health‐related dimensions might have had a role in individual COVID‐19 vaccination acceptance. In two studies (n = 974), we tested the hypothesis that participants' vaccination acceptance is related to their past vote in the 2018 Brazilian presidential election (being or not being a Jair Bolsonaro voter) and their different levels of perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD). We further tested whether Bolsonaro's opposition or ambiguous messages towards vaccination (vs. control) increased vaccination rejection among those who have (vs. have not) voted for him and who are low (vs. high) in PVD. Results show that Bolsonaro (vs. non‐Bolsonaro) voters accepted less vaccination, with higher rejection rates when participants expressed low (vs. high) PVD. Also, when primed either with Bolsonaro's opposed or ambiguous messages towards COVID‐19 vaccination, such participants accepted less vaccines (vs. participants primed with neutral information). These findings are the first to show that the COVID‐19 vaccine acceptance is related to their past vote and leadership influence but also different levels of perceived vulnerability to disease.
Funder
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Subject
Political Science and International Relations,Philosophy,Sociology and Political Science,Clinical Psychology,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology,Social Psychology