Study Suggests Moral Values Predict Regional Differences in COVID-19 Vaccination Rates
A new study suggests that moral values and beliefs have a significant impact on regional disparities in vaccination rates, according to investigators from the University of Southern California who published their research findings in American Psychologist. Despite the fact that COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective, and widely available, many Americans are still hesitant.
“The loyalty finding is quite surprising because there is a lot of rhetoric about anti-vaccination among conservatives. However, what we’re showing is that typical conservatives do not tend to be anti-vaxxers,” said co-author Morteza Dehghani, PhD, in the press release. “The anti-vaxxers tend to be not high on loyalty, but high on purity. These include conservatives who are low on loyalty, and also liberals who tend to prioritize purity concerns, most likely focusing on bodily aspects of purity contamination.”