Extroverts 18% less likely to accept vaccination

When it comes to personality types, people who are extroverts are more likely than others to refuse COVID-19 vaccination. In a survey of over 40,000 people in Canada which examined the relationships between personality and vaccine hesitancy and refusal, it was found that while all personality types were associated with COVID-19 vaccine refusal to some degree, extroverts, along with and negative emotionality, stood out. “Researchers, public health experts, and those responsible for policy implementation can use this information to inform future vaccination campaigns,” said researchers in Frontiers Psychology While various studies have investigated traits such as political ideology and political knowledge in vaccine hesitancy “it is important to understand the role of more foundational personal traits,” they wrote. Previous studies showed conservatives are more vaccine hesitant than liberals, and that in the U.S. Republicans are less likely to hold accurate beliefs about vaccines than Democrats. “People with less political knowledge tend to have anti-vaccine policy preferences and believe they know more than vaccine experts,” the study said. The researchers noted that the Big-Five personality traits (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and negative emotionality) are important for a wide range of political attitudes and behaviors. The researchers conducted surveys of Canadian adults taken between Nov. 2020 and July 2021 to examine the Big-Five personality traits and associations with intent to vaccinate. Surveys were administered in 22 consecutive waves and reached 42,196 respondents. It captured changes over time in terms of vaccination intent. The standard psychology tool, the Big Five Inventory-2 Short Form, was used to evaluate respondent personality. For vaccine intention, subjects were asked, “Would you take a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 infection once it becomes available?” (Yes, no, and unsure). The results showed that agreeableness, openness and conscientiousness seemed to matter less as the aggregate vaccination rate in the population increased with more in these categories getting vaccinated. But those with low emotional stability (who experience extreme emotions), were less likely to favour vaccination. And extroverts were 18% more likely to refuse the vaccine. “People who are higher in extraversion are more likely to indicate they are not willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them, a finding that persists regardless of the trajectory of COVID-19 cases or vaccination rates at the time,” the study said. “The influence of personality may not be immutable,” it noted.

Extroverts 18% less likely to accept vaccination

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