Personality Traits Indicative of COVID-19 Vaccine Attitudes, Study Finds

Past research on COVID-19 vaccination efforts has focused on the impacts of political ideology, knowledge, and context on a person’s openness to refusing or accepting the COVID-19 vaccine. In a new multi-wave study published in Frontiers in Psychology, researchers moved beyond the scope of political affiliation to discover that personality traits can also be indicative of an individual’s attitudes towards the vaccine.

The study authors utilized survey data from over 40,000 Canadians taken by the Media Ecosystem Observatory between November 2020 and July 2021. Their fielding corresponded with Canada’s initial vaccine rollout in January 2021. At this time, the COVID-19 vaccine was only available to those in long-term homes and health care workers. However, by March 2021 the vaccine was available to elderly populations, and the rest of the general population by April/May. The surveying also coincided with the rise and fall of the Delta variant, which became the dominant strand in Canada by the summer of 2021.

The principal outcome of the survey centered around the question “Would you take a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 infection once it becomes available?” Participants could answer “yes” (labeled accepters), “no” (labeled refusers), or “unsure” (labeled hesitant). To assess personality, the Big Five Inventory-2 Short Form (BFI-2-S) was used to measure an individual’s openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and negative emotionality.

Results showed strong contrasts between the personality traits of vaccine accepters and refusers—as researchers expected. The starkest difference came with agreeableness. A 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in agreeableness was linked to a 28% reduced relative risk of being a vaccine refuser compared with an accepter (P < .001). Similarly, increases in conscientiousness, openness, and negative emotionality were linked to a reduced risk of perceived vaccine refusal by 10%, 11%, and 18%, respectively (all P < .001). As for differences between vaccine accepters and hesitant individuals, no significant distinctions were seen.

The biggest surprise came from the significant effect extraversion had on COVID-19 vaccine attitudes, the authors noted. They found that more extraverted individuals were 18% more likely to refuse the vaccine once it became available to them.

The researchers noted that trends in personality traits fluctuated throughout the survey period. For example, the rate of accepters increased from 62%-82%. Additionally, negative emotionality became a more influential factor as the pandemic circumstances changed: as vaccination rates increased, those higher in negative emotionality were more likely to report a willingness to be vaccinated.

Their data showed that the effect of personality on individual health decisions was mutable—a realization that was of upmost importance to the researchers because it paves the way for more studies and consideration. They believe their findings could contribute to future vaccination campaigns as further research and data help inform decisions for appealing to different individuals.

Moving forward, the authors envision questions like “do strong personality effects persist when people are faced with social (e.g., familiar, occupational) pressure to get vaccinated? Does experiencing a mild or severe case of COVID-19 override personality effects that make people more susceptible to being open to or refusing vaccines?” will guide research evaluating how personality influences vaccine hesitancy.

Reference

Baker MN, Merkley E. Dynamic role of personality in explaining COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and refusal. Front Psychol. June 15, 2023;14. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1163570