Impact of Dark Triad Personality Traits on COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake and Prevention Efforts: Insights from the European Covid Survey (ECOS)

Abstract

Background: Even though the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in general can be considered as one of the most successful public health campaigns in the history of medicine, general vaccination hesitancy has remained an issue of concern throughout the world. We add to a deeper understanding of vaccination hesitancy by identifying what drives primary vaccination and booster uptake, as well as adherence to simple preventive measures such as physical distancing by investigating the role of Dark Triad personality traits, i.e. Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Methods: We investigate data from Germany and the United Kingdom from the European Covid Survey which was collected from 23 December 2021 to 10 January 2022. Logit regressions and random effects regressions were performed to study the effect of dark personality traits on COVID-19-related prevention. Results: We show that Dark Triad personality traits have a substantial impact on prevention efforts, primary vaccinations and booster uptake against COVID-19. Specifically, individuals scoring high in psychopathy have significantly less likely received primary immunization. The difference amounts to 10.5%-points. High narcissistic personality traits imply a substantially higher likelihood (15.3%-points) to refuse booster shots after having received the primary vaccinations. Therefore, the Dark Triad personality traits may constitute a special case in the demand for vaccines. In addition, individuals with higher psychopathic tendencies engage significantly less in other simple preventive behavior, while higher scores in narcissism lead to higher reported adherence to simple preventive measures. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the crucial role that personality plays in pandemic related prevention. Policymakers, health professionals, and those in charge of health messaging may take these factors into account when devising communication strategies to improve the vaccination uptake and adherence to preventive behaviors. Future pandemics and public health crises would benefit from targeted, nuanced approaches to public health messaging to promote greater public adherence and public health.