Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5431-5976

Date of Award

Spring 6-2-2024

Document Type

Thesis (Undergraduate)

Department

Quantitative Social Science

First Advisor

Elizabeth Carpenter-Song

Second Advisor

Erika Moen

Third Advisor

Christine Gunn

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy poses a threat to public health initiatives of the 21st century. Following a stark divide in the rural/urban COVID-19 vaccine uptake and harsh disparities between these areas in COVID-19 moralities and morbidities, further understanding of the drivers of vaccine hesitancy are needed. This study makes use of the framework of place-based consciousness (PBC), pioneered by scholars of rural political science, such as Katherine Cramer, to explore this phenomenon as a mechanism by which to understand vaccine hesitancy. To examine this, an experimental survey was distributed to 300 Americans (150 rural and 150 urban) that inquired about their PBC, vaccine hesitancy, and trust in information about their health. To analyze this survey, I use OLS linear and ordinal logistic regression models to examine the relationship between PBC and vaccine hesitancy, through a mechanism of information (mis)trust. In this study, I confirm the results of previous studies of PBC that rural people experience greater PBC and this phenomenon seems to be driven by out-group resentment. Moreover, I find that place-based identity (if someone identifies as rural vs. urban) significantly modifies the relationship between PBC and vaccine hesitancy. That is, that vaccine hesitancy can be positively predicted by PBC in the rural sample. The results of this study offer insight into the reasons why rural areas are more vaccine hesitant and the discussion proposes future directions for confirming these preliminary insights, considering the limitations of this study.

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