Information about herd immunity through vaccination and empathy promote COVID-19 vaccination intentions.

Abstract

Objective: An effective vaccine against COVID-19 is a desired solution to curb the spread of the disease. However, vaccine hesitancy might hinder high uptake rates and thus undermine efforts to eliminate COVID-19 once an effective vaccine became available. The present contribution addresses this issue by examining two ways of increasing the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19.Methods: Two pre-registered online studies were conducted (N = 2,315 participants from the UK) in which knowledge about and beliefs in herd immunity through vaccination, as well as empathy for those most vulnerable to the virus, were either measured (Study 1) or manipulated (Study 2). As a dependent variable, individuals' self-reported vaccination intention once a vaccine against COVID-19 became available was assessed. Results:In Study 1 (N = 310), the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19 was correlated with knowledge about and belief in herd immunity through vaccination (r = .58, p < .001), as well as with empathy for those most vulnerable to the virus (r = .26, p < .001). In Study 2 (N = 2,005), information about herd immunity through vaccination (Cohen's d = 0.13, p = .003) and empathy (Cohen's d = 0.22, p < .001) independently promoted vaccination intention. Conclusions:The motivation to get vaccinated against COVID-19 was related to and could be causally promoted by both mere information about herd immunity through vaccination and by empathy. As such, the present research provides a better understanding of the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Vaccinating to protect others: The role of self-persuasion and empathy among young adults

“…The result demonstrating that self-persuasion focused on protecting the health of others can be effective in increasing young people's willingness to vaccinate, which is closely correlated with our finding that as empathy increases, the intention to vaccinate increases. This finding is consistent with previous studies indicating that vaccinating oneself is a prosocial behavior; therefore, empathic concern motivates people to protect the health of others by vaccinating (Pfattheicher et al, 2021). Highly empathic people have an other-directed focus of attention, which manifests in seeking information about the needs of others (Andreychik & Lewis, 2017).…”

“…Our findings provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between empathy and intention to vaccinate through the application of TPB. Thus, we extend previous studies (Pfattheicher et al, 2021) by showing that empathy is linked with greater intention to vaccinate through a more positive attitude toward vaccination, stronger social norm beliefs related to vaccination and increased perceived behavioral control. The positive association between empathy and TPB components may be due to the tendency of highly empathic people to focus on the well-being of others (Andreychik & Lewis, 2017).…”

“…Previous studies have already shown that concern for the health protection of others is an important motivation for vaccination (Betsch et al, 2018;Jung & Albarracín, 2020). Thus, our findings contribute to previous works that have conceptualized vaccination as a prosocial behavior (e.g., Betsch et al, 2018;Chapman et al, 2012;Pfattheicher et al, 2021).…”

“…Similarly, another study demonstrated that empathy promotes the motivation to engage in physical distancing and wearing of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic (Pfattheicher et al, 2020). Pfattheicher et al (2021) explained that promoting empathy can increase the intention to vaccinate against COVID-19, as vaccination can be conceptualized as a prosocial act that helps to protect vulnerable others.…”

“…Since concern for protecting the health of others is an important motivation to vaccinate against COVID-19, it is reasonable to expect that highly empathetic individuals, who are more concerned about the welfare of others, will be more likely to vaccinate than low-empathetic individuals. Indeed, one study demonstrated that willingness to vaccinate increased as empathy increased (Pfattheicher et al, 2021). Similarly, another study demonstrated that empathy promotes the motivation to engage in physical distancing and wearing of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic (Pfattheicher et al, 2020).…”