Big Five Personality Traits and Willingness to Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19 vaccinations are an effective countermeasure for the pandemic if a high proportion of the population is vaccinated (Lau, 2021). To reach those who do not want to be vaccinated, the investigation of their characteristics is of high importance. In the present study (N = 467), we examined COVID-19 vaccine accepting and hesitant individuals for possible differences in their Big Five personality traits and sub-facets. Vaccine accepting individuals were more agreeable than hesitant individuals. Furthermore, accepting individuals showed higher levels of altruism (a sub-facet of agreeableness) and lower levels of depression (a sub-facet of neuroticism) than hesitant individuals. No other differences were observed. Our study and previous literature suggest that personality does not impact, or only weakly impacts, the willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19. We discuss other factors that might determine vaccine hesitancy.