Attachment and intellectual humility as predictors of attitudes towards vaccination and vaccines in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Health behavior, including attitudes towards vaccination, is affected by various personal, contextual and broader social factors. This paper focuses on attachment and intellectual humility as potential predictors of attitudes towards vaccination and predictors of vaccination status in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The starting hypothesis was that there is a significant correlation between attachment styles and intellectual humility and that attachment and intellectual humility can separately significantly contribute to explaining individual differences in attitudes towards vaccination and differences in vaccination status. The research was conducted in an online environment on a convenience sample of students (N = 247). Questionnaires and self-assessment scales were applied to collect general data, data on attachment styles, intellectual humility, attitudes towards vaccination and reasons for (non-)vaccination. The results showed that secure attachment and intellectual humility (especially openness to change of mind, i.e. independence of ego and intellect) can partially explain positive attitudes towards vaccination, while significant predictors of vaccination status were age, fearful attachment, independence of ego and intellect and attitudes towards vaccination. The results confirmed some previous insights about the motivation for (non-)vaccination and pointed to a small but significant role of attachment and intellectual humility in explaining both attitudes towards vaccination and health behavior in the context of the pandemic.