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
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sage Publications Ltd
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.
Description
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
Turkish CoHE Thesis Center URL
Citation
2
WoS Q
Q1
Scopus Q
Q1
Source
Public Understanding of Science
Volume
31
Issue
2
Start Page
239
End Page
251