Protection motivation unmasked: Applying protection motivation theory to skepticism toward COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates

AIMS Public Health

article

Robin M. Kowalski¹  Kenzie Hurley¹  Nicholas Deas¹  Sophie Finnell¹  Kelly Evans¹  Chelsea Robbins¹  Andrew Cook¹  Emily Radovic¹  Hailey Carroll¹  Lyndsey Brewer¹  Gabriela Mochizuki¹ 

[1] Department of Psychology, Clemson University

关键词: protection motivation;    vaccine mandate skepticism;    mask mandate skepticism;    COVID-19;    political affiliation;   

DOI  :  10.3934/publichealth.2022035

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: AIMS Press

【 摘 要 】

Variants of COVID-19 have sparked controversy regarding mask and/or vaccine mandates in some sectors of the country. Many people hold polarized opinions about such mandates, and it is uncertain what predicts attitudes towards these protective behavior mandates. Through a snow-ball sampling procedure of respondents on social media platforms, this study examined skepticism of 774 respondents toward these mandates as a function of the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) of health. Hierarchical linear regressions examined Protection Motivation (PM) as a predictor of mask and vaccine mandate skepticism independently and with political party affiliation as a control. PM alone accounted for 76% of the variance in mask mandate skepticism, p 0.05. Specifically, the more severe participants perceived COVID-19 to be and the greater the perceived efficacy of masks and vaccines preventing the spread of COVID-19, the lower participants' skepticism toward mask and vaccine mandates. Similarly, the higher participants' self-efficacy in wearing masks or receiving the vaccine, the lower their skepticism toward mask and vaccine mandates.

【 授权许可】

CC BY