Early generational and partisan divides in vaccine acceptance in USA during the Covid-19 pandemic
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22944522 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ginger Alonso (0000-0002-7596-6921, Department of Political Science, California State University , 400 W. First Street, Chico, CA 95929, United States), Spencer Kiesel (0000-0003-1722-4409, University of Cincinnati) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-30 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Health Promotion International (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0957-4824 • E-ISSN: 1460-2245 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/heapro/daaf209 |
| PMID | 41334594 |
| OpenAlex | W4416987467 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 50 |
Partisanship is a factor behind COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in USA. A growing body of research indicates that conservative Republicans demonstrate greater vaccine hesitancy than their liberal Democratic counterparts. Importantly, older adults tend to be more conservative yet exhibit less vaccine hesitancy overall. Accordingly, this study investigates age as a moderating factor in early vaccine attitudes, addressing a gap in the current literature. Leveraging protection motivation theory and data from the Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (N = 15 000), our analysis suggests that the relationship between partisanship and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is conditioned by age, as measured both continuously and categorically through generational cohorts. Our primary contribution is the finding of no partisanship effect on the oldest cohort of Americans in the earliest days of COVID-19 vaccine implementation. For adults from the Silent Generation, partisanship has no systematic effect on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Furthermore, for younger partisans, vaccination attitudes are more closely tied to political identity than previously known. Our findings uncover generational diversity and provide novel insight into vaccine hesitancy across age and partisanship. Examining age interactions is crucial since age is a major risk factor for many infectious diseases worldwide. Understanding this relationship is essential to ensure that vaccine campaigns are targeted in the most effective way. We present an important contribution that is intersectional in nature, furthering research in both health behavior and politics.
Cohort · Diversity (politics) · Identity (music) · Pandemic · Politics · Public health · Vaccination · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
The Political Determinants of Health
Acceptability of a Covid-19 vaccine among adults in the United States
Vaccine hesitancy
Vaccine hesitancy in the era of Covid-19
Vaccine Hesitancy
Covid-19 and vaccine hesitancy
Are Needs to Manage Uncertainty and Threat Associated With Political Conservatism or Ideological Extremity?
Anti-vaccine activists, Web 2.0, and the postmodern paradigm – An overview of tactics and tropes used online by the anti-vaccination movement
The influence of political ideology and trust on willingness to vaccinate
Factors associated with uptake of vaccination against pandemic influenza
Historical Origins of the Health Belief Model
In an Era of Deepening Partisan Divide, What is the Meaning of Age or Generational Differences in Political Values?
Role of Threat and Coping Appraisal in Protection Motivation for Adoption of Preventive Behavior During Covid-19 Pandemic
Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the United States
Red Media vs. Blue Media
Covid-19 Vaccination Hesitancy in the United States
Political polarization drives online conversations about Covid ‐19 in the United States
A Protection Motivation Theory of Fear Appeals and Attitude Change1
Differential Effects of Right Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation on Outgroup Attitudes and Their Mediation by Threat From and Competitiveness to Outgroups
Covid-19 Vaccine Acceptance among College Students
What did the pandemic teach us about effective health communication? Unpacking the Covid-19 infodemic
Polarization in Covid-19 Vaccine Discussion Networks
Aging in Times of the Covid-19 Pandemic
The politics of vaccine hesitancy in the United States
Ageism toward older adults during the Covid‐19 pandemic
How Right-Leaning Media Coverage of Covid-19 Facilitated the Spread of Misinformation in the Early Stages of the Pandemic in the U.S
One Tribe to Bind Them All
Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Is the New Terrain for Political Division among Americans
Aging, Cohorts, and the Stability of Sociopolitical Orientations Over the Life Span
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |