engleski

Trust and vaccine attitudes in times of crisis: role of trust in experts and political trust on positive views of vaccination

COVID-19 vaccination is a vital tool in curbing the impact of the pandemic. However, despite its availability and great governmental and public health efforts in promoting confidence in the effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines, vaccination rates in Croatia are not as high as hoped. Moreover, vaccines seem to be a polarizing issue in the Croatian public. Thus, understanding different determinants of vaccination attitudes is a prerequisite for developing an effective communication strategy. In this study, we focused on the role of political trust and trust in experts, ideological and demographic variables. A relatively large national sample (N = 1591) was recruited via a panel sampling company, and data were collected during December 2021 and January 2022. The results of structural equation modelling (SEM) showed that higher trust in experts, higher political trust, left-leaning political orientation, lower religiosity, higher educational level, older age and male sex predict positive COVID-19 vaccine attitudes, with trust in experts exhibiting the most substantial effect. Considered variables were further investigated in relation to vaccination uptake. Overall, the findings provide empirical support for the role of trust, especially trust in experts, in determining vaccine attitudes.

COVID-19, vaccine attitudes, trust in experts, political trust, political orientation, religiosity

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