Psychosocial Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and the Mediating Role of Various Attitudes towards Science

This study examined the way attitudes towards science in the U.S. mediate the relationship between COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and psychosocial predictors, such as political ideology, religiosity, reactance proneness, dogmatism, perceived communal ostracism, education, and socioeconomic status. We analyzed the structure of people's attitudes towards science, revealing four distinct factors: epistemic confidence, belief that science and technology are beneficial, trust in science in general, and trust in medical science. With all four factors included as mediators in a saturated path analysis, low levels of trust in medical science and low epistemic confidence fully mediated the relationships between nearly all of the psychosocial predictors and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Political conservativism's negative association with vaccine hesitancy was partially mediated by the same two facets of people's attitudes towards science. Adding nuance to existing research, we found that trust in science in general was not a significant mediator once all four facets were included in the model. These findings are discussed with a focus on their implications for understanding attitudes towards science and their substantial and complex role in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Automated summary

This study investigated the mediating role of attitudes towards science in the relationship between COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and psychosocial predictors in the U.S., such as political ideology, religiosity, reactance proneness, dogmatism, perceived communal ostracism, education, and socioeconomic status. The results revealed four factors in people's attitudes towards science: epistemic confidence, belief in the benefits of science and technology, trust in science in general, and trust in medical science. Low levels of trust in medical science and low epistemic confidence fully mediated the relationships between most psychosocial factors and vaccine hesitancy, with political conservatism partially mediating this association. Trust in science in general was not a significant mediator once all four facets were considered. These findings contribute to understanding the complex role of attitudes towards science in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.