Religiosity, Dogmatism, Education and Covid-19 Awareness as Predictors of Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: A Quantitative Study on Turkish Muslims
Authors: SEVİNÇ Kenan , ÇİFTÇİ Metin , AKYILDIZ Rananur , KARAOĞLAN Esra 
Published: December 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic, which started in 2019, affected social, economic and political structures all over the world and pushed states to take quick and dramatic measures. Vaccine development studies, which are seen as the most effective way of combating such pandemics, started rapidly and mass vaccinations were started in a short time. However, the opposition to vaccines, which has been going on since the first days of the use of vaccines in the world, has come to the fore again against COVID-19 vaccine programs. Anti-vaccine rhetoric has slowed the pace of the fight against the pandemic. Field studies have shown that more than 50% of people experience hesitations about vaccination. The World Health Organization defines vaccine refusal or vaccine hesitancy as a global threat. Identifying the reasons for vaccine hesitancy is very important in terms of maintaining general public health. For this reason, social scientists are working on the causes of vaccine hesitancy. In the literature, religiosity and low level of education are shown among the reasons for vaccine hesitancy. However, when studies are examined, there are clues that a certain type of religiosity rather than religiosity is related to anti-vaccination. The main problem of this research is whether religiosity and education level predict COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. In this study, the relationship between religiosity, dogmatic religiosity, education level, socio-economic level and COVID-19 awareness with vaccine hesitancy and their predictive levels are examined. The research is in correlational model and cross-sectional design. The relationship of five variables (religiosity, dogmatic religiosity, education level, socio-economic level, COVID-19 awareness) with vaccine hesitancy and their predictive levels were examined. The sample of the research consists of Muslim Turks over the age of 18. Participants were recruited using the convenience sampling method. The prepared online survey form was shared on social media platforms and the participants were reached. 322 Muslims between the ages of 18-70 (mean 30, SD=10.62) participated in the study. 65% of the participants are women and 55% are single. Ok Religious Attitude Scale, Dogmatic Religiosity Scale, Personal Information Form, COVID-19 Awareness Scale and Vaccine Hesitancy Scale were used as measures. Research findings showed that one-fifth of the participants did not receive the COVID-19 vaccine, half of them had 2 doses and the rest had different doses. Among the unvaccinated, the proportion of women and married people is higher. A negative correlation was found between age and vaccine hesitancy. While no relation could be found between education level and vaccination hesitancy, socio-economic level and vaccination hesitancy showed a negative correlation. When looking at other variables, it was found that there was no relationship between religiosity and vaccine hesitancy, but a negative relationship between COVID-19 awareness and vaccine hesitancy, and a positive relationship between religious dogmatism and vaccine hesitancy. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the predictive levels. In the multiple regression analysis, dogmatic religiosity, COVID-19 awareness and socio-economic level were added as a predictor, and vaccine hesitancy as an output variable. In the first step, only religious dogmatism was included in the model as a predictor. In step 3, three predictors were entered simultaneously. The findings showed that dogmatic religiosity, socio-economic status, and awareness of COVID-19 were significant predictors of vaccine hesitancy. In the first step, dogmatic religiosity alone accounts for about 3% of the variance in vaccine hesitancy. In the second step, dogmatic religiosity and socio-economic status together accounted for about 5% of the variance in vaccine hesitancy. And finally, in the third step, dogmatic religiosity, socio-economic level and awareness of COVID-19 together account for 7% of the variance in vaccine hesitancy. Considering the beta coefficients, it was seen that there was a positive correlation between dogmatic religiosity and vaccine hesitancy, and a negative correlation was found between vaccine hesitancy and socio-economic level and COVID-19 awareness. Considering the standardized regression coefficients, it is seen that the most important variable predicting vaccine hesitancy is dogmatic religiosity.