Implicit and explicit COVID‐19‐vaccine harmfulness/helpfulness associations predict vaccine beliefs, intentions, and behaviors

Hinojosa, Bianca M.; Meese, William B.; Howell, Jennifer L.; Lindgren, Kristen P.; O’Shea, Brian; Teachman, Bethany A.; Werntz, Alexandra

Abstract

We investigated the role of implicit and explicit associations between harm and COVID-19 vaccines using a large sample (N = 4668) of online volunteers. The participants completed a brief implicit association test and explicit measures to evaluate the extent to which they associated COVID-19 vaccines with concepts of harmfulness or helpfulness. We examined the relationship between these harmfulness/helpfulness COVID-19 vaccine associations and vaccination status, intentions, beliefs, and behavior. We found that stronger implicit and explicit associations that COVID-19 vaccines are helpful relate to vaccination status and beliefs about the COVID-19 vaccine. That is, stronger pro-helpful COVID-19 vaccine associations, both implicitly and explicitly, related to greater intentions to be vaccinated, more positive beliefs about the vaccine, and greater vaccine uptake.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 18, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Oct 4, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-12
• Deposit Date: Nov 20, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 21, 2023
• Journal: Social and Personality Psychology Compass
• Electronic ISSN: 1751-9004
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 12
• Article Number: e12905
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12905
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/25682750
• Publisher URL: https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/spc3.12905