TY - JOUR
T1 - Concerns for others increases the likelihood of vaccination against influenza and COVID-19 more in sparsely rather than densely populated areas
AU - Jung, Haesung
AU - Albarracín, Dolores
N1 - Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank the 2018-2019 ASK (Annenberg Science Knowledge) Group at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, which includes the survey design and administration team: Ozan Kuru, Ph.D.; Dominik Stecula, Ph.D.; Hang Lu, Ph.D.; Yotam Ophir, Ph.D.; Man-pui Sally Chan, Ph.D.; Ken Winneg, Ph.D.; and Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Ph.D. This research was funded by grants from the NIAID (Grant R01 AI147487), the National Institutes of Drug Abuse (Grant DP1 DA048570), and the NIH (Grant R01MH114847, awarded to D.A.).
Funding Information:
We thank the 2018-2019 ASK (Annenberg Science Knowledge) Group at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, which includes the survey design and administration team: Ozan Kuru, Ph.D.; Dominik Stecula, Ph.D.; Hang Lu, Ph.D.; Yotam Ophir, Ph.D.; Man-pui Sally Chan, Ph.D.; Ken Winneg, Ph.D.; and Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Ph.D. This research was funded by grants from the NIAID (Grant R01 AI147487), the National Institutes of Drug Abuse (Grant DP1 DA048570), and the NIH (Grant R01MH114847, awarded to D.A.).
PY - 2021/1/5
Y1 - 2021/1/5
N2 - Vaccination yields the direct individual benefit of protecting recipients from infectious diseases and also the indirect social benefit of reducing the transmission of infections to others, often referred to as herd immunity This research examines how prosocial concern for vaccination, defined as people's preoccupation with infecting others if they do not vaccinate themselves, motivates vaccination in more and less populated regions of the United States. A nationally representative, longitudinal survey of 2,490 Americans showed that prosocial concern had a larger positive influence on vaccination against influenza in sparser regions, as judged by a region's nonmetropolitan status, lesser population density, and lower proportion of urban land area. Two experiments (total n = 800), one preregistered, provide causal evidence that drawing attention to prosocial (vs. individual) concerns interacted with social density to affect vaccination intentions. Specifically, prosocial concern led to stronger intentions to vaccinate against influenza and COVID-19 but only when social density was low (vs. high). Moderated mediation analyses show that, in low-density conditions, the benefits of inducing prosocial concern were due to greater perceived impact of one's vaccination on others. In this light, public health communications may reap more benefits from emphasizing the prosocial aspects of vaccination in sparser environments.
AB - Vaccination yields the direct individual benefit of protecting recipients from infectious diseases and also the indirect social benefit of reducing the transmission of infections to others, often referred to as herd immunity This research examines how prosocial concern for vaccination, defined as people's preoccupation with infecting others if they do not vaccinate themselves, motivates vaccination in more and less populated regions of the United States. A nationally representative, longitudinal survey of 2,490 Americans showed that prosocial concern had a larger positive influence on vaccination against influenza in sparser regions, as judged by a region's nonmetropolitan status, lesser population density, and lower proportion of urban land area. Two experiments (total n = 800), one preregistered, provide causal evidence that drawing attention to prosocial (vs. individual) concerns interacted with social density to affect vaccination intentions. Specifically, prosocial concern led to stronger intentions to vaccinate against influenza and COVID-19 but only when social density was low (vs. high). Moderated mediation analyses show that, in low-density conditions, the benefits of inducing prosocial concern were due to greater perceived impact of one's vaccination on others. In this light, public health communications may reap more benefits from emphasizing the prosocial aspects of vaccination in sparser environments.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Adult
KW - COVID-19/epidemiology
KW - COVID-19 Vaccines/administration & dosage
KW - Female
KW - Humans
KW - Influenza Vaccines/administration & dosage
KW - Influenza, Human/epidemiology
KW - Longitudinal Studies
KW - Male
KW - Orthomyxoviridae/genetics
KW - Population Density
KW - Probability
KW - Public Health
KW - SARS-CoV-2/genetics
KW - United States/epidemiology
KW - Vaccination
KW - Young Adult
KW - Social density
KW - Regional variation
KW - Herd immunity
KW - Prosocial concern
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2007538118
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2007538118
M3 - Article
C2 - 33443183
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 118
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 1
M1 - e2007538118
ER -