Perceived Social Influence on Vaccination Decisions: A COVID-19 Case Study

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Yewell, Denise, Bentley, R. Alexander, Horne, Benjamin D.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Yewell, Denise
Bentley, R. Alexander
Horne, Benjamin D.
author_facet Yewell, Denise
Bentley, R. Alexander
Horne, Benjamin D.
contents In this study, we examine the perceived influence of others, across both strong and weak social ties, on COVID-19 vaccination decisions in the United States. We add context to social influence by measuring related concepts, such as perceived agreement of others and perceived danger of COVID-19 to others. We find that vaccinated populations perceived more influence from their social circles than unvaccinated populations. This finding holds true across various social groups, including family, close friends, and neighbors. Vaccinated participants perceived that others agreed with their decision to get vaccinated more than unvaccinated participants perceived others to agree with their decision to not get vaccinated. Despite the clear differences in perceived social influence and agreement across the groups, the majority of participants across both vaccinated and unvaccinated populations perceived no social influence from all social group in their decisions. Aligning with this result, we find through open-ended responses that both vaccinated and unvaccinated participants frequently cited fear as a motivating factor in their decision, rather than social influence: vaccinated participants feared COVID-19, while unvaccinated participants feared the vaccine itself.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_01489
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Perceived Social Influence on Vaccination Decisions: A COVID-19 Case Study
Yewell, Denise
Bentley, R. Alexander
Horne, Benjamin D.
Social and Information Networks
Computers and Society
Physics and Society
In this study, we examine the perceived influence of others, across both strong and weak social ties, on COVID-19 vaccination decisions in the United States. We add context to social influence by measuring related concepts, such as perceived agreement of others and perceived danger of COVID-19 to others. We find that vaccinated populations perceived more influence from their social circles than unvaccinated populations. This finding holds true across various social groups, including family, close friends, and neighbors. Vaccinated participants perceived that others agreed with their decision to get vaccinated more than unvaccinated participants perceived others to agree with their decision to not get vaccinated. Despite the clear differences in perceived social influence and agreement across the groups, the majority of participants across both vaccinated and unvaccinated populations perceived no social influence from all social group in their decisions. Aligning with this result, we find through open-ended responses that both vaccinated and unvaccinated participants frequently cited fear as a motivating factor in their decision, rather than social influence: vaccinated participants feared COVID-19, while unvaccinated participants feared the vaccine itself.
title Perceived Social Influence on Vaccination Decisions: A COVID-19 Case Study
topic Social and Information Networks
Computers and Society
Physics and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.01489