Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between respondents' vaccine hesitancy, reported media consumption patterns, ideological leanings, and trust in science. A large-scale survey conducted in the US in 2022 (N = 1,646) assessed self-reported COVID-19 vaccination, trust in science, and reported media consumption. Findings show that, regardless of personal ideology, individuals who consumed less conservative media and had a more ideologically diverse media diet were more likely to be fully vaccinated and boosted. Additionally, consuming more conservative media was negatively associated with trust in science, but this relationship was weaker among those with a more ideologically diverse media diet. By incorporating data from an earlier wave of the survey in the summer of 2020, before COVID-19 vaccines were available, we found that a less conservative and more ideologically diverse media diet in 2022 predicted vaccination behavior in 2022, controlling for prior vaccine intentions and media consumption in 2020. A similar survey conducted in the UK in the summer of 2020 paralleled patterns in the US regarding vaccine intentions and media consumption. These results suggest that an ideologically diverse media diet is associated with reduced vaccine hesitancy. Public health initiatives might benefit from encouraging ideologically diverse media consumption.
Source: Scientific Reports
Institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, Michigan State University, University of California, Santa Barbara, Williams College, Queen Mary University of London, Australian National University, Swansea University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Oregon Research Institute, University of Oregon, Decision Research, Monash University, University of Padua, Linköping University
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,590
OpenAlex ID: W4404618059