And that’s pretty crazy, because extroverts like to be surrounded by other people. That is why you would think that they were the first to get vaccinated during the corona pandemic. But nothing is less true.
The corona pandemic was a difficult and difficult time for many. Due to the roaming corona virus, we were all confined to our homes, which not only isolated us from the virus, but also from physical social contacts. Fortunately, the arrival of the corona vaccine changed that. But not everyone was immediately jumping for the corona shot. Some people had doubts or concerns about the vaccine. In a new study researchers studied which people were most hesitant to get vaccinated. And remarkably enough, it concerns a group of people you would least expect.
Study
The researchers studied questionnaires completed by more than 40,000 Canadian adults. The surveys were conducted between November 2020 and July 2021. The questions were mainly about the personality of each participant. This was tested using the so-called ‘Big Five model’, which measures extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability, orderliness and openness. Additional questions gauged respondents’ views on vaccination. For example, one question was “if a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, would you like to be vaccinated?”
Open and friendly
The study confirmed some of the researchers’ suspicions. For example, it appears that open and friendly people are more inclined to get vaccinated. “These are people who are open to new things, new information, and like to go with the flow,” says researcher Melissa Baker. “We would have expected the same from people with a high level of conscientious behaviour. They are detail-oriented and great planners.”
extroverted
On the other hand, those with low emotional stability – or people with extreme emotions – were less likely to get the corona jab. That was also in line with expectations. What surprised the researchers, however, was that extroverts were also not keen on the corona vaccine. To their surprise, extroverts were even 18 percent more likely to refuse the jab. “This was a pretty surprising result,” Baker told Scientias.nl. “Extroverted people have a very social nature. That is why we expected that they would be prepared to get vaccinated. This would allow them to go out into the world and socialize again. But we found the opposite.”
Statement
The question, of course, is what lies behind this: why is the extrovert a vaccine doubter? “It can probably be traced back to a combination of several things,” says Baker when asked. “Possibly extroverts were already socializing before the vaccines became available. In this case, the advent of the vaccine therefore had no impact on their social interactions. Another explanation is that extroverts downplayed the dangers and impact of COVID-19 because it hindered their ability to socialize. They may have been more skeptical about the pandemic and therefore less likely to get vaccinated. A third possibility is that extraversion is related to a preference for a certain (political) belief that is more skeptical of the corona vaccine and the pandemic.”
Personality
Taken together, the findings show that a person’s personality plays an important role in the choice of vaccination. “We wanted to look at vaccine doubts in a different way,” says Baker. “Of course politics explains part of this, but there are also personal differences between people. Although several factors ultimately determine whether or not someone chooses to get vaccinated, his or her personality appears to be an important aspect. As mentioned, we saw that extroverts were no less than 18 percent less likely to get the corona vaccine than introverts. That is a large percentage that is only caused by a personality trait.”
Other vaccines
Or extroverted people are also more hesitant about other vaccines? “It could be,” says Baker. “If there are doubts about one vaccine, it can easily apply to other vaccines as well. On the other hand, the corona pandemic brought very different social situations than most diseases. The response to the pandemic has been subject to fierce political debate in many places. In that sense, we can therefore expect different results for other vaccines, where similar extreme situations do not play a role.”
Convince
During the corona pandemic, many countries made an effort to convince their inhabitants to get the corona jab. Money was thrown, extra vacation days were given away and free beer was provided. This may have persuaded some doubters, but probably not the largest group. The findings from the new study now reveal that targeting a particular group of people may be more effective. For example, certain types of reporting can still convince extroverts. “Now that we know you need to achieve a certain personality type, we can think about the message that will actually convince that person,” Baker notes. “Targeted reporting can be useful in this respect. For example, Canada ran ads encouraging people to get vaccinated because “it was time to start making memories again.” So an effective persuasion technique can be to remind extroverts that getting a vaccine means they can go back out into the world and see people in a safe way.”
In short, the study shows that the choice of vaccination is not only determined by certain beliefs, such as political preferences. “There are also inherent characteristics of a person, such as his or her personality, that influence this decision,” said Baker. And that is an interesting new insight, which may also be useful in future vaccination campaigns against various diseases.
2023-08-14 06:32:00
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