Factors that shape people’s attitudes towards the covid-19 pandemic in germany—the influence of media, politics and personal characteristics
El-Far Cardo A, Kraus T, Kaifie A (2021)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2021
Journal
Book Volume: 18
Article Number: 7772
Journal Issue: 15
Abstract
Misinformation that accompanied the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic led to an impaired risk perception, resulting in the refusal of personal protection measures, as well as a reduced willingness to receive a vaccination. In order to identify factors that might influence people’s attitudes towards COVID-19 policies and engagement in mitigation measures, we carried out a cross-sectional study in Germany. Altogether, n = 808 participants completed our questionnaire concerning items on demographics, media consumption, risk perception, and trust in health authorities, as well as willingness to receive a vaccination. An overwhelming majority of our participants perceived SARS-CoV-2 as a health threat (85.7%), and almost two thirds (63.5%) mentioned they would get vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 when a vaccination was available. A greater likelihood of vaccination intention was associated with being male (71.5% male vs. 60% female, p < 0.05), left-wing voting, trusting health authorities, using public media as an information source about COVID-19, and, in particular, perceiving COVID-19 as a health threat. A better understanding of factors that contribute to vaccine hesitancy is indispensable in order to eliminate doubts, increase vaccination rates, and create herd immunity, to stop further virus transmission.
Authors with CRIS profile
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
El-Far Cardo, A., Kraus, T., & Kaifie, A. (2021). Factors that shape people’s attitudes towards the covid-19 pandemic in germany—the influence of media, politics and personal characteristics. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(15). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18157772
MLA:
El-Far Cardo, Aida, Thomas Kraus, and Andrea Kaifie. "Factors that shape people’s attitudes towards the covid-19 pandemic in germany—the influence of media, politics and personal characteristics." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18.15 (2021).
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