Data_Sheet_1_Dynamic role of personality in explaining COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and refusal.docx

Vaccine hesitancy and refusal are threats to sufficient response to the COVID-19 pandemic and public health efforts more broadly. We focus on personal characteristics, specifically personality, to explain what types of people are resistant to COVID-19 vaccination and how the influence of these traits changed as circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic evolved. We use a large survey of over 40,000 Canadians between November 2020 and July 2021 to examine the relationship between personality and vaccine hesitancy and refusal. We find that all five facets of the Big-5 (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and negative emotionality) are associated with COVID-19 vaccine refusal. Three facets (agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness) tended to decline in importance as the vaccination rate and COVID-19 cases grew. Two facets (extraversion and negative emotionality) maintained or increased in their importance as pandemic circumstances changed. This study highlights the influence of personal characteristics on vaccine hesitancy and refusal and the need for additional study on foundational explanations of these behaviors. It calls for additional research on the dynamics of personal characteristics in explaining vaccine hesitancy and refusal. The influence of personality may not be immutable.

疫苗犹豫与疫苗接种拒斥，不仅对新冠疫情（COVID-19）的有效应对构成阻碍，更对更广泛的公共卫生事业形成严峻挑战。本研究聚焦于个人特质，尤其是人格特征，旨在解析哪些人群易对新冠疫苗接种产生抗拒心理，并探究随着新冠疫情形势演变，这些人格特质的影响效应如何发生变化。

本研究依托2020年11月至2021年7月间针对4万余名加拿大人开展的大型问卷调查，考察人格特征与疫苗犹豫、接种拒斥之间的关联。

研究发现，大五人格（Big-5）的全部五个维度——经验开放性（openness to experience）、尽责性（conscientiousness）、外倾性（extraversion）、宜人性（agreeableness）以及负性情绪性（negative emotionality）——均与新冠疫苗接种拒斥存在显著关联。随着疫苗接种率与新冠确诊病例数的攀升，其中三个维度（宜人性、尽责性与经验开放性）的影响效应呈减弱趋势；而另外两个维度（外倾性与负性情绪性）的影响效应则随疫情形势变化保持稳定或有所增强。

本研究凸显了个人特质对疫苗犹豫与接种拒斥行为的影响，同时指出亟需针对此类行为的底层解释机制开展进一步研究，并呼吁学界围绕个人特质的动态变化机制，深入探究其对疫苗犹豫与接种拒斥行为的解释力。

人格特征对疫苗相关行为与态度的影响并非一成不变。