School of Media and Communication, Korea University, 145 Anam-Ro, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul, 02841, South Korea.
Department of Communication, University of Oklahoma, Norman, USA.
Sci Rep. 2022 Aug 11;12(1):13681. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-17430-6.
The current study examined various types of misinformation related to the COVID-19 vaccines and their relationships to vaccine hesitancy and refusal. Study 1 asked a sample of full-time working professionals in the US (n = 505) about possible misinformation they were exposed to related to the COVID-19 vaccines. Study 2 utilized an online survey to examine U.S. college students' (n = 441) knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines, and its associations with vaccine hesitancy and behavioral intention to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Analysis of open-ended responses in Study 1 revealed that 57.6% reported being exposed to conspiratorial misinformation such as COVID-19 vaccines are harmful and dangerous. The results of a structural equation modeling analysis for Study 2 supported our hypotheses predicting a negative association between the knowledge level and vaccine hesitancy and between vaccine hesitancy and behavioral intention. Vaccine hesitancy mediated the relationship between the vaccine knowledge and behavioral intention. Findings across these studies suggest exposure to misinformation and believing it as true could increase vaccine hesitancy and reduce behavioral intention to get vaccinated.
本研究调查了与 COVID-19 疫苗相关的各种类型的错误信息及其与疫苗犹豫和拒绝的关系。研究 1 要求美国的一组全职专业人员（n=505）回答他们可能接触到的与 COVID-19 疫苗相关的错误信息。研究 2 利用在线调查，调查了美国大学生（n=441）对 COVID-19 疫苗的了解程度，以及其与疫苗犹豫和接种 COVID-19 疫苗的行为意愿的关联。在研究 1 中对开放式回答的分析表明，57.6%的人报告接触到了阴谋论错误信息，例如 COVID-19 疫苗是有害和危险的。研究 2 的结构方程模型分析的结果支持了我们的假设，即知识水平与疫苗犹豫之间以及疫苗犹豫与行为意愿之间存在负相关关系。疫苗犹豫在疫苗知识和行为意愿之间的关系中起中介作用。这些研究的结果表明，接触错误信息并相信它是真实的，可能会增加疫苗犹豫，降低接种疫苗的行为意愿。
