“You Could Have Prevented It!“: attributions of responsibility toward COVID-19 unvaccinated vs. vaccinated individuals

BACKGROUND: While most of the population was vaccinated against COVID-19, ongoing vaccine hesitancy led to a substantial proportion of the population remaining unvaccinated. Unvaccinated people were accused of spreading COVID-19 and morally condemned. Recently, it has been shown that vaccinated people attribute increased responsibility for illness and infecting others toward unvaccinated individuals, which elicits negative attitudes toward them. Based on Weiner’s attribution theory we predicted that the belief in COVID-19 vaccine efficacy of vaccinated “observers” moderates their attribution of responsibility toward vaccinated vs. unvaccinated “actors”. Accordingly, vaccinated observers who believe in the vaccine’s efficacy will assign increased responsibility to unvaccinated actors and associated negative attitudes. METHODS: An online survey was administered in January 2022. The sample included 368 vaccinated Israelis ranging in age from 19 to 75 (M = 33.95, SD = 12.13). We conducted 2 × 2 mixed ANOVA models for general attribution of responsibility (i.e., responsibility for the actor’s illness and for spreading SARS-CoV-2), with observer belief in COVID-19 vaccine efficacy (yes/no) as the between-subjects factor and actor vaccination status (vaccinated/unvaccinated) as the within-subjects factor. Also, we conducted a mediation model for character evaluation. RESULTS: Observers attributed more responsibility to unvaccinated actors. Also, observers who believed in COVID-19 vaccine efficacy attributed greater responsibility to unvaccinated actors compared to observers who were vaccinated for other reasons. Conversely, observers who believed in COVID-19 vaccine efficacy attributed less responsibility to vaccinated actors compared to observers who were vaccinated for other reasons. Also, general attribution of responsibility partially mediates the relationship between belief in COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and character evaluation. CONCLUSION: In accordance with previous findings, our results suggest that unvaccinated individuals are perceived as more responsible for their illness and for spreading COVID-19. Additionally, a higher attribution of responsibility elicits a more negative character evaluation. Nevertheless, belief in COVID-19 vaccine efficacy moderates the attribution of responsibility. Our results broaden our understanding of the mechanisms that promote negative attitudes toward unvaccinated people.