COVID-19 risk perception, cognitive dissonance, and vaccine hesitancy

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that despite having high risk for severe disease, some individuals had low-risk perception and consequently they refused vaccination. This was more common among individuals with distrust in the government and the scientific organizations. Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person participates in an action that goes against one’s beliefs. In order to reduce the dissonance, the individual often avoids the action. Recently, dissonance-based interventions have been shown to be effective in changing various health, environmental, and social behaviors. The impact of these interventions may persist for several years. Cognitive dissonance may be another mechanism for vaccine refusal among people with mistrust in the system. There is a need to investigate the role of cognitive dissonance in vaccine refusal and the effectiveness of dissonance-based interventions to reduce vaccine hesitancy among individuals with high risk for severe disease and low vaccination rates.