Catherine Chen

All Publications

• A randomized controlled trial of an information intervention to bolster COVID-19 vaccination intention among people with purity concerns. Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association Chen, C., Cui, Z., Chen, Y. 2023

  Abstract

  Previous literature has indicated a strong negative correlation between the moral foundation of purity/sanctity and vaccination rates. The current research investigated how purity concerns impact COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy and tested an information intervention to bolster vaccination intention among people with purity concerns.Study 1 surveyed 566 Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents in the United States. Study 2 was a between-subject-designed survey experiment that investigated the impact of three statements on the COVID-19 vaccination attitudes and intentions of 637 Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents. Statement 1 argued that vaccines are not impure from a scientific perspective; Statement 2 made the same argument with quotes from the Bible; and Statement 3 was a control statement.Study 1 established a significant correlation between the existence of vaccination history and purity as a moral foundation. Study 2 found that among those with no COVID-19 vaccination history, statements arguing that vaccines are not impure from either a scientific perspective or a religious perspective improved attitudes toward vaccination and intention to get vaccinated.Purity concerns can be leveraged as a way to bolster vaccination rates, especially among conservatives. However, the impurity perception only mediated the causal relationship between the treatment and the attitude toward vaccines (but not the actual intention), suggesting that changes in the actual vaccination behavior are subject to factors other than purity concerns. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/hea0001295

  View details for PubMedID 37261752

• Public opinion on climate change in the USA: to what extent can it be nudged by questionnaire design features? CLIMATIC CHANGE Chen, C., MacInnis, B., Waltman, M., Krosnick, J. A. 2021; 167 (3-4)

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s10584-021-03194-x

  View details for Web of Science ID 000684214700001