Short-sighted decision-making by those not vaccinated against COVID-19

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 11906
• Main Authors: Halilova, Julia G., Fynes-Clinton, Samuel, Green, Leonard, Myerson, Joel, Wu, Jianhong, Ruggeri, Kai, Addis, Donna Rose, Rosenbaum, R. Shayna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 13.07.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/477/2811; 692/53/2423; Bias; Cognitive ability; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Decision making; Education; Humanities and Social Sciences; Infectious diseases; Mental health; multidisciplinary; Pandemics; Public health; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Vaccination; Vaccines; Variables
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15276-6

Widespread vaccination is necessary to minimize or halt the effects of many infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Stagnating vaccine uptake can prolong pandemics, raising the question of how we might predict, prevent, and correct vaccine hesitancy and unwillingness. In a multinational sample (N = 4,452) recruited from 13 countries that varied in pandemic severity and vaccine uptake (July 2021), we examined whether short-sighted decision-making as exemplified by steep delay discounting—choosing smaller immediate rewards over larger delayed rewards—predicts COVID-19 vaccination status. Delay discounting was steeper in unvaccinated individuals and predicted vaccination status over and above demographics or mental health. The results suggest that delay discounting, a personal characteristic known to be modifiable through cognitive interventions, is a contributing cause of differences in vaccine compliance.