Among Americans who have yet to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, Republicans have been most consistently hesitant. The gap in vaccination rates between counties that voted for Joe Biden and those that voted for Donald Trump has only widened over time. …
Our research shows that vaccination endorsements from elite Republicans — and, conversely, the silence that preceded them — can have an important impact on the vaccination intentions of everyday Republicans. In a new experiment published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, we find that direct encouragement from Republican leadership — in particular from former president Donald Trump — leads to higher intentions to vaccinate among Republicans. …
We also found some evidence of a backlash effect among the vaccinated and unvaccinated Republicans who viewed vaccine endorsements from Democratic elite: They reported being less willing to promote vaccination among friends and family. This is an important finding in its own right, as the weight of peer influence in Republicans’ social networks is likely to have an important effect on vaccination rates. CONTINUED
Robb Willer (Stanford) & David G. Rand (MIT), Washington Post
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