Value vs. Risk Perception : Which Contributes More to COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy?

COVID-19 poses an unprecedented health risk worldwide. The COVID-19 vaccine is regarded as the solution to achieve herd immunity and thus eradicate this threat. Vaccine hesitancy, however, is a considerable barrier.

Past research suggested the decision about vaccination is not a mere risk issue, but a socially constructed issue. Compared to Western countries, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in East Asia is unique due to social and cultural traditions. In particular, East Asia’s authoritarian orientation emphasizes the public’s obedience to authorities. In the current study, we aimed to investigate whether the risk perception or authoritarian orientation matters more to the public’s intention to get vaccinated.

We surveyed 3,190 Hong Kong respondents based on the distribution of gender, age, and residence drawn from Hong Kong’s 2016 population census. Preliminarily, we found that vaccination intentions varied by demographic. Moreover, authoritarian orientation showed more predictability on willingness for vaccination than on risk perception. Specifically, individuals with stronger authoritarian orientations are less willing to get vaccinated than those who perceive less risk towards COVID-19.

Faced with such a health crisis, people’s authoritarian orientation could be seen as a socially constructed value that the authorities must consider when communicating with the public. Past literature mainly emphasized the importance of risk communication and how to improve the public’s science literacy. However, our study indicated that considering the socio-political context is more important. Hence, developing culture- or value-based communication strategies to improve the public’s vaccination intention is suggested, which could also be a direction for future studies.