Predictors of intention to vaccinate against COVID-19 in a sample of Romanian adults
Elena Gabriela Nicuță, Daniela Victoria Zaharia, Teodor Răileanu-Olariu, Ticu Constantin
Vaccination against COVID-19 is considered to be one of the most effective ways to control and ultimately end the pandemic. Seeing that the many people are still vaccine hesitant, it is important to examine the factors which influence one’s intention to vaccinate. A sample consisting of 473 Romanian adults aged between 18 and 76 years old (M = 38.01, SD = 11.27) participated in a study which investigated general anti-vaccination attitudes, conspiracy beliefs, and Health Belief Model variables as predictors of vaccination intent. Results suggest that intention to vaccinate is negatively correlated with anti-vaccination attitudes, conspiracy beliefs about the virus, and perceived barriers, while being positively correlated with perceived susceptibility, perceived severity of the disease and perceived benefits of vaccination. Moreover, intention to vaccinate was positively correlated with cues to action from doctors, but not from mass-media. A hierarchical regression model showed that perceived benefits of vaccination, perceived barriers, conspiracy beliefs about the virus, cues to action from medical staff, and being diagnosed with COVID-19 were significant predictors of participants’ intention to vaccinate. Moreover, our findings indicate that there are significant differences between male and female participants on many of the investigated variables. Results are discussed in the light of previous literature.
Intention to vaccinate, COVID-19, Health Belief Model, Conspiracy beliefs, Anti-vaccination attitudes
Daniela Victoria Zaharia – Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi, Romania, E-mail: daniela.zaharia@uaic.ro
Ticu Constantin – Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi, Romania
