Abstract
COVID-19 vaccines are the most promising means of limiting the pandemic. The present study aims at determining the roles of several psychological variables in predicting vaccination intention in Italy. An online questionnaire was disseminated between 9 March and 9 May 2021. The sample included 971 participants. Results showed that most of the participants were willing to vaccinate. Acceptance rates were correlated with age, marital status, and area of residence. Intention to be vaccinated was positively correlated with perceived risk, pro-sociality, fear of COVID-19, use of preventive behaviors, and trust in government, in science, and in medical professionals. Intention to be vaccinated was negatively associated with belief in misinformation. The degree of acceptance is likely to be a result of the campaign tailored to address people’s negative attitudes towards vaccines. Trust in government and trust in science were among the strongest psychological predictors of vaccination intention. Fear of COVID-19, but not perceived risk, was associated with increased vaccine uptake, suggesting that the affective component of risk perception was more important than the cognitive component in predicting participants’ behaviors. Belief in misinformation was associated with reduced vaccination intention. Future studies will take into consideration these variables, to better understand the multifaceted process underlying vaccination intention.
Highlights
To date, different vaccines against COVID-19 have been approved by regulatory agencies and are currently in use
A survey conducted in April 2021 on more than 10,000 respondents [1] showed that the percentage of people who declared to accept the COVID-19 vaccine was very high in Brazil
We investigated the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in Italy in the period between March and May 2021
Summary
Different vaccines against COVID-19 have been approved by regulatory agencies and are currently in use. Our second aim was to determine the impact of individual differences in demographic variables on vaccine acceptance rates. In this respect, common findings are that the intention to vaccinate was higher in males than in females [2,6], and higher in older than in younger people [9,10]. The aim of the present study was to provide an updated assessment of vaccine acceptance rates in Italy in the period between March and May 2021 at the launch of the vaccination campaign and further investigate the impact of a broad array of demographical and psychological factors in increasing (or decreasing) participants’ willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19
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