The present research examined which motivational factors contribute to individuals’ intention to take a vaccine that protects against SARS-CoV-2-virus and their self-reported vaccine uptake several months later. The role of different types of motivation was investigated (i.e., autonomous and controlled regulation) as well as vaccine distrust and effort to obtain a vaccine. Across two large-scale cross-sectional (N = 8887) and longitudinal (N = 6996) studies and controlling for various covariates, autonomous motivation and distrust-based amotivation contributed positively and negatively, respectively, to a) concurrent vaccination intentions, b) self-reported vaccination and c) subsequent subscription to a waitlist to obtain a vaccine. Participants’ infection-related risk perception predicted more positive vaccination outcomes through fostering greater autonomous motivation for vaccination and lower distrust, whereas pandemic-related health concerns failed to yield such adaptive effects. The results emphasize the importance of fostering autonomous motivation for vaccination and handling distrust, both at the societal and face-to-face level.
Background: People’s perceived risk to be infected and to have severe illness has been thought as a motivational source of adherence to behavioral measures during the COVID-19 crisis.
Methods: We used online self-reported data, spanning 20 months of the COVID-19 crisis in [blinded] (n = 241,275; 34% vaccinated; July 2020 - March 2022).
Results: The findings demonstrate, especially among vaccinated persons, that people’s perceived severity was more prominent than perceived probability for infection, up until Omicron emerged. At both the between-persons and between-day levels, perceived severity was the most strongly related to autonomous motivation, a pattern that was less pronounced for unvaccinated people towards the end of the crisis.
Conclusions: These findings show that variation in risk perceptions largely accounts for the variation in both between-individuals’ and day-to-day variation in motivation to adhere to the measures, thereby showing a sensitivity to the characteristics of the variants of the virus and the role of one’s vaccination status.
Objective: Across nationwide rollout of COVID-19 vaccination, people in Belgium differed widely in their vaccination intention. In the present study, we examined (a) how people's vaccination intentions changed during the vaccination rollout and (b) whether changes in motivation (i.e., autonomous, controlled, and distrust-based (a)motivation) predicted changes in vaccination intention, thereby taking into account people's vaccination intention at baseline. Method: Using 4 subsamples of participants who were vaccinated at different time points (n total = 10,799) between December 2020 and June 2021; we used latent change modeling and latent growth curve modeling to examine the associations among initial levels and changes in vaccination motivation and vaccination intention. Results: Across subsamples, changes in vaccination intention were found to be qualified by changes in motivation. An increase in autonomous motivation was related to a positive shift in vaccination intention, while an increase in both controlled motivation and distrust-based amotivation was related to a negative shift in vaccination intention. Moreover, autonomous motivation predicted especially an increase in vaccination intention among those initially low in vaccination intention, whereas an increase in either controlled motivation or distrust-based amotivation especially predicted a decrease in vaccination intention among those initially high in vaccination intention. Conclusions: Findings suggest that a growing sense of ownership and a reduction in distrust is critical for individuals to develop a stronger intention to get vaccinated, particularly when people had initially low vaccination intentions. We discuss conceptual, methodological, and practical implications.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.