Investigation of the relationship between vaccine hesitancy and five-factor personality traits of adults aged 18 and over during the covid-19 pandemic in terms of various variables

The aim of the study is to examine the relationship between vaccine hesitancy and five-factor personality traits of adults during the covid-19 pandemic period according to the variables of gender, age, educational status, occupation, vaccination status and health problems. In this study, relational model, one of the quantitative research designs, was used. 628 people between the ages of 18-65 living in different parts of Turkey, with different demographic characteristics, constitute the study group of the research. Of the participants in the study group, 443 (70.5%) were female and 185 (29.5%) were male. A personal information form was used to determine the demographic characteristics of the people participating in the study, the "Vaccine Hesitancy Scale" was used to determine the vaccine hesitancy levels, and the "Rapid Five-Factor Personality Test" was used to determine the five-factor personality traits. The analysis of the data obtained from the research was made with the SPSS-27 package program. A frequency table was created for demographic characteristics such as gender, age and education level of the participants. T-test was used to determine the differences in group means in two-group variables, and one-way analysis of variance (One-Way Anova) was used in variables with three or more groups. Kruskal Wallis-H analysis was used for variables with 3 or more groups that were found to be non-parametric. Finally, pearson correlation analysis was performed to determine the direction and strength of the relationship between the scales and sub-dimensions used in the study. It was applied at the level of Alpha = 0.05. As a result of the research, it was found that there was a high negative relationship between the adaptability personality trait and the vaccine hesitancy-risks dimension. There was no significant relationship between responsibility, extraversion, openness to experience, emotional balance, personality dimensions and vaccine hesitancy. In the examination made according to sociodemographic variables, it was determined that the vaccine hesitancy of healthcare workers differed significantly from other occupational groups and was lower. In the examination made according to education level, vaccine hesitancy of university graduates was found to be significantly lower. Again, it has been found that vaccine hesitancy differs according to the status of being a chronic health problem, and individuals with a chronic health problem have higher vaccine hesitancy. While it was observed that the vaccine hesitancy of individuals between the ages of 18-25 was lower than the older age groups, no significant differentiation was found according to gender. In the analyzes made according to the status of being vaccinated against Covid-19, significant differences were found between vaccine hesitancy and vaccination behavior. The vaccine hesitancy levels of adults who refused to be vaccinated against Covid-19 were found to be significantly higher than those of vaccinated individuals. Again, it was determined that the vaccine hesitancy levels of individuals who refused to be vaccinated with all doses were higher than individuals with all doses.