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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1462073
This article is part of the Research Topic The Intersection of Psychology, Healthy Behaviors, and its Outcomes View all 14 articles

From Obligation to Action: Unraveling the Roles of Social Responsibility and Prosocial tendency in Shaping Chinese Doctors' Vaccine Hesitancy

Provisionally accepted
Xikun Li Xikun Li 1Yuwei Zhang Yuwei Zhang 2Xinyang Li Xinyang Li 3Botang Guo Botang Guo 3*
  • 1 Harbin Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
  • 2 Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
  • 3 Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Abstract Background: The hesitation of healthcare professionals towards vaccines is becoming increasingly concerning, potentially undermining public confidence in vaccination programs. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social responsibility, Prosocial tendency, and vaccine hesitancy among Chinese doctors, and to identify demographic factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 976 Chinese doctors. Participants completed a questionnaire to assess their sense of social responsibility, Prosocial tendency, and vaccine hesitancy. Demographic information, including age, gender, and marital status, was also collected. Correlation and mediation analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between the main variables. Results: Social responsibility was negatively correlated with vaccine hesitancy (r=-0.564, P<0.01) and positively correlated with Prosocial tendency (r=0.519, P<0.01). Prosocial tendency was negatively correlated with vaccine hesitancy (r=-0.505, P<0.01) and partially mediated the relationship between social responsibility and vaccine hesitancy. Younger age, female gender, and unmarried status were associated with higher levels of vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion: This study emphasized the important role of social responsibility and Prosocial tendency in reducing vaccine hesitancy among Chinese doctors. The findings suggest that interventions aimed at fostering a strong sense of social responsibility and promoting Prosocial tendency may effectively address vaccine hesitancy in this population. Additionally, targeted interventions focusing on young, female, and unmarried doctors may be necessary.

    Keywords: vi. Authors' contributions Conceptualization, XL and YZ, methodology, XL and BG, software, XL, validation, XL and YZ, formal analysis, XL, investigation, XL and YZ, resources, BG, data curation, XL and BG

    Received: 09 Jul 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Zhang, Li and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Botang Guo, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.