Why did you do it? Reasons for vaccination and non-vaccination among young adults in Serbia
Conference object (Published version)
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Background: We explored the reasons young people in Serbia give for getting or not getting vaccinated and whether these reasons correspond to the selfish-rational and social norms models of vaccination choices. Methods: 229 participants aged 18–35 (71% women) completed an online survey. In a fictitious disease scenario, n=89 ‘vaccinators’ reported they would definitely/probably get vaccinated, while n=140 ‘nonvaccinators’ would definitely/probably not. They rated a list of reasons for (non-)vaccination (‘completely/somewhat describes my reasons’ indicated endorsement); an open-ended question elicited reasons outside of the two models. Findings: While vaccinators reported not relying on others for protection (46%), non-vaccinators rarely endorsed free-riding (‘many people got vaccinated so I don’t have to’; 19%). What the majority was doing (descriptive norm) was relevant for vaccinators (47%) and they trusted the ‘wisdom of the common man’ (43%); others' behavior was less important for... non-vaccinators (25% and 33%, respectively). Weighing personal benefits against risks of vaccination was a common reason for both vaccinators (85%) and non-vaccinators (73%). Vaccinators viewed vaccination as necessary to protect oneself (99%) and others (90%) and as a collective effort to stop the disease (91%). Non-vaccinators believed they did not need vaccination to protect their health (62%). A part of the survey about COVID-19 (n=213) replicated this pattern of results. Discussion: While the reasons stemming from the two theoretical models were less endorsed by non-vaccinators (perhaps due to distrust in vaccine effectiveness), the analysis of open ended responses revealed new reasons (e.g. conspiratorial beliefs). Overall, this study can inform more targeted communication interventions.
Keywords:
vaccination / social norms / rationality / self-interest / covid-19 pandemicSource:
37th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, 4-8 September, 2023Funding / projects:
- Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, institutional funding - 200163 (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy) (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200163)
- Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Researchers in the Global South Grant
URI
https://2023.ehps.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/EHPS_2023_Abstracts_UPLOAD.pdfhttp://reff.f.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/4879
Institution/Community
Psihologija / PsychologyTY - CONF AU - Lazić, Aleksandra AU - Žeželj, Iris PY - 2023 UR - https://2023.ehps.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/EHPS_2023_Abstracts_UPLOAD.pdf UR - http://reff.f.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/4879 AB - Background: We explored the reasons young people in Serbia give for getting or not getting vaccinated and whether these reasons correspond to the selfish-rational and social norms models of vaccination choices. Methods: 229 participants aged 18–35 (71% women) completed an online survey. In a fictitious disease scenario, n=89 ‘vaccinators’ reported they would definitely/probably get vaccinated, while n=140 ‘nonvaccinators’ would definitely/probably not. They rated a list of reasons for (non-)vaccination (‘completely/somewhat describes my reasons’ indicated endorsement); an open-ended question elicited reasons outside of the two models. Findings: While vaccinators reported not relying on others for protection (46%), non-vaccinators rarely endorsed free-riding (‘many people got vaccinated so I don’t have to’; 19%). What the majority was doing (descriptive norm) was relevant for vaccinators (47%) and they trusted the ‘wisdom of the common man’ (43%); others' behavior was less important for non-vaccinators (25% and 33%, respectively). Weighing personal benefits against risks of vaccination was a common reason for both vaccinators (85%) and non-vaccinators (73%). Vaccinators viewed vaccination as necessary to protect oneself (99%) and others (90%) and as a collective effort to stop the disease (91%). Non-vaccinators believed they did not need vaccination to protect their health (62%). A part of the survey about COVID-19 (n=213) replicated this pattern of results. Discussion: While the reasons stemming from the two theoretical models were less endorsed by non-vaccinators (perhaps due to distrust in vaccine effectiveness), the analysis of open ended responses revealed new reasons (e.g. conspiratorial beliefs). Overall, this study can inform more targeted communication interventions. C3 - 37th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, 4-8 September T1 - Why did you do it? Reasons for vaccination and non-vaccination among young adults in Serbia DO - 10.17605/OSF.IO/3RD6Z ER -
@conference{ author = "Lazić, Aleksandra and Žeželj, Iris", year = "2023", abstract = "Background: We explored the reasons young people in Serbia give for getting or not getting vaccinated and whether these reasons correspond to the selfish-rational and social norms models of vaccination choices. Methods: 229 participants aged 18–35 (71% women) completed an online survey. In a fictitious disease scenario, n=89 ‘vaccinators’ reported they would definitely/probably get vaccinated, while n=140 ‘nonvaccinators’ would definitely/probably not. They rated a list of reasons for (non-)vaccination (‘completely/somewhat describes my reasons’ indicated endorsement); an open-ended question elicited reasons outside of the two models. Findings: While vaccinators reported not relying on others for protection (46%), non-vaccinators rarely endorsed free-riding (‘many people got vaccinated so I don’t have to’; 19%). What the majority was doing (descriptive norm) was relevant for vaccinators (47%) and they trusted the ‘wisdom of the common man’ (43%); others' behavior was less important for non-vaccinators (25% and 33%, respectively). Weighing personal benefits against risks of vaccination was a common reason for both vaccinators (85%) and non-vaccinators (73%). Vaccinators viewed vaccination as necessary to protect oneself (99%) and others (90%) and as a collective effort to stop the disease (91%). Non-vaccinators believed they did not need vaccination to protect their health (62%). A part of the survey about COVID-19 (n=213) replicated this pattern of results. Discussion: While the reasons stemming from the two theoretical models were less endorsed by non-vaccinators (perhaps due to distrust in vaccine effectiveness), the analysis of open ended responses revealed new reasons (e.g. conspiratorial beliefs). Overall, this study can inform more targeted communication interventions.", journal = "37th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, 4-8 September", title = "Why did you do it? Reasons for vaccination and non-vaccination among young adults in Serbia", doi = "10.17605/OSF.IO/3RD6Z" }
Lazić, A.,& Žeželj, I.. (2023). Why did you do it? Reasons for vaccination and non-vaccination among young adults in Serbia. in 37th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, 4-8 September. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3RD6Z
Lazić A, Žeželj I. Why did you do it? Reasons for vaccination and non-vaccination among young adults in Serbia. in 37th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, 4-8 September. 2023;. doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/3RD6Z .
Lazić, Aleksandra, Žeželj, Iris, "Why did you do it? Reasons for vaccination and non-vaccination among young adults in Serbia" in 37th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, 4-8 September (2023), https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3RD6Z . .