Outgoing Personalities More Hesitant to COVID-19 Vaccination

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New Study Finds Outgoing Personalities More Hesitant to COVID-19 Vaccination

New Study Finds Outgoing Personalities More Hesitant to COVID-19 Vaccination

A recent study involving over 40,000 Canadians has discovered that, contrary to initial expectations, outgoing individuals are more hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The research revealed that while people with higher levels of openness and agreeableness are more likely to get vaccinated, extroverted personalities are 18% more likely to refuse the vaccine. These findings could aid in tailoring public health information based on personality traits in the future.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which personality types were less inclined to get vaccinated? Outgoing personalities – that’s the conclusion drawn from a new study involving over 40,000 Canadians.

New Study Finds Outgoing Personalities More Hesitant to COVID-19 Vaccination

“We expected outgoing individuals to be more willing to receive the vaccine,” said Dr. Melissa Beck, the lead author and Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso. “We thought they’d be eager to get back to socializing and being out in the world, right? But, in fact, it’s the opposite.”

The team of scientists from UTEP and the University of Toronto suggests that their research, published in the journal “Frontiers in Psychology,” will be valuable for future public health messaging and vaccination campaigns. It provides a unique perspective on vaccine hesitancy research, which has primarily focused on political inclinations.

Beck stated, “We wanted to approach the issue of vaccine hesitancy in a different way. While politics can certainly help explain some of it, there are also individual differences between people, which led us to think about personality.”

The study was based on surveys conducted from November 2020 to July 2021, involving over 40,000 Canadian adults. Online questions assessed the personality of each participant using the “Big Five” personality model, which includes openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability.

Other questions explored participants’ attitudes toward vaccination. For example, one question asked, “When the COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, will you get vaccinated?” As vaccination campaigns rolled out, the questions evolved to reflect vaccine availability.

Most of the research team’s hypotheses were supported. For example, more open and agreeable individuals were more likely to get vaccinated.

Beck explained, “These people are open to new experiences and information and go along with the crowd. We also expected that highly conscientious individuals would, as they tend to focus on details and are planners.”

On the other hand, individuals with low emotional stability, or those prone to extreme emotions, were less likely to get vaccinated. Surprisingly, outgoing personalities were 18% more likely to refuse vaccination.

While the pandemic has subsided, the research team emphasizes that these findings will aid in developing public health information strategies for various diseases, not just COVID-19.

Beck added, “If we know you need to reach a certain personality type, we can consider the information that would genuinely connect with and persuade that person.”