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

ABSTRACT: 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 conserva

SUBMITTER: Morgan J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10459256 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature