Risk-Perception Change Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine’s Side Effects: The Role of Individual Differences

Laura Colautti, Alice Cancer, Sara Magenes, Alessandro Antonietti and Paola Iannello
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Laura Colautti: Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 20123 Milan, Italy
Alice Cancer: Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 20123 Milan, Italy
Sara Magenes: Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 20123 Milan, Italy
Alessandro Antonietti: Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 20123 Milan, Italy
Paola Iannello: Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 20123 Milan, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: The COVID-19 vaccine appears to be a crucial requirement to fight the pandemic. However, a part of the population possesses negative attitudes towards the vaccine. The spread of conspiracy theories and contradictory information about the pandemic have altered the population’s perception of risk. The risk-perception of the vaccine’s side effects may be affected by individual differences. The complex relationship between risk-perception and individual differences is relevant when people have to make decisions based on ambiguous and constantly changing information, as in the early phases of the Italian vaccination campaign. The present study aimed at measuring the effect of individual differences in risk-perception associated with the COVID-19 vaccine’s side effects in a context characterized by information ambiguity. An online survey was conducted to classify a sample of Italian pro-vaccine people into cognitive/behavioral style groups. Furthermore, changes in vaccine risk-perception after inconsistent communications regarding the vaccine’s side effects were compared between groups. The results showed that “analytical” individuals did not change their perception regarding the probability of vaccine side effects but changed their perception regarding the severity of side effects; “open” and “polarized” individuals neither changed their perception regarding the probability nor of the severity of side effects, showing a different kind of information processing, which could interfere with an informed decision-making process.

Keywords: COVID-19; vaccine; risk-perception; individual differences; conspiracy theories; analytic thinking; decision making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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