Biased perceptions against female scientists affect intentions to get vaccinated for COVID-19

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Date

2022

Authors

Dogan, Isminaz
Baruh, Lemi
Cemalcilar, Zeynep
Kuru, Ozan
Yildirim, Kerem
Carkoglu, Ali

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Publisher

Sage Publications Ltd

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Abstract

Based on role congruity theory, we investigated how gender bias may influence public attitudes toward the vaccine in Turkey. Using a between-subjects design, we tested whether an emphasis on the female versus the male scientist as the vaccine's inventor in a news story influenced attitudes about the BioNTech vaccine and vaccination intentions. Partly confirming role congruity theory, three-way interaction results from 665 participants demonstrated that among male participants with a stronger belief in traditional gender roles (compared to males with lower belief), the presence of the female inventor, either by herself or together with the male inventor, decreased the perceived efficacy and safety of the vaccine and reduced intentions to be vaccinated by the BioNTech vaccine. We did not observe such differences for women. These findings highlight how gender bias may influence individuals' information processing and decision making in a way that may have negative consequences for public health.

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Keywords

Gender-Gap, Women Scientists, Sex-Differences, Science, Communication, Roles, Gender-Gap, Women Scientists, covid vaccination, Sex-Differences, gender bias, Science, gender and science, Communication, media representations, Roles, role congruity theory

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Citation

2

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Q1

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Q1

Source

Public Understanding of Science

Volume

31

Issue

2

Start Page

239

End Page

251