RESEARCH PAPER
The relationship between fear of COVID-19 infection, fear of COVID-19 vaccination
and Big Five personality traits: a mediation model
| 1 | Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland |
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Submission date: 2022-03-09
Final revision date: 2022-10-17
Acceptance date: 2022-10-20
Online publication date: 2022-11-28
Current Issues in Personality Psychology 2023;11(1):1–10
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Background:
The primary objective of our correlational, cross-sectional study was to determine the relationship between fear of COVID-19 infection and fear of COVID-19 vaccination and the role of the Big Five personality traits in this relation-ship.
Participants and procedure:
The study sample consisted of 462 participants, including 286 women and 176 men, aged 18 to 75, recruited from the general population. The Big Five personality traits were diagnosed using the Polish version of the Ten-Item Per-sonality Inventory. We used an 11-point numerical rating scale to measure the intensity of fear of COVID-19 infection as well as fear of COVID-19 vaccination.
Results:
The results indicate that fear of infection has a weak positive correlation with fear of vaccination. Both types of fear have a weak negative correlation with emotional stability and openness to experience. People diagnosed with COVID-19 have significantly higher levels of fear of vaccination and lower levels of emotional stability compared to those without a COVID-19 diagnosis. Fear of infection proves a good predictor of fear of vaccination and a likely me-diator between emotional stability and fear of vaccination against COVID-19.
Conclusions:
The results may increase our understanding of the role of personality traits, such as emotional stability, in the fear of infection and COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy.
The primary objective of our correlational, cross-sectional study was to determine the relationship between fear of COVID-19 infection and fear of COVID-19 vaccination and the role of the Big Five personality traits in this relation-ship.
Participants and procedure:
The study sample consisted of 462 participants, including 286 women and 176 men, aged 18 to 75, recruited from the general population. The Big Five personality traits were diagnosed using the Polish version of the Ten-Item Per-sonality Inventory. We used an 11-point numerical rating scale to measure the intensity of fear of COVID-19 infection as well as fear of COVID-19 vaccination.
Results:
The results indicate that fear of infection has a weak positive correlation with fear of vaccination. Both types of fear have a weak negative correlation with emotional stability and openness to experience. People diagnosed with COVID-19 have significantly higher levels of fear of vaccination and lower levels of emotional stability compared to those without a COVID-19 diagnosis. Fear of infection proves a good predictor of fear of vaccination and a likely me-diator between emotional stability and fear of vaccination against COVID-19.
Conclusions:
The results may increase our understanding of the role of personality traits, such as emotional stability, in the fear of infection and COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy.
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