Do the vaccinated perform less distancing, mask wearing and hand hygiene? A test of the risk compensation hypothesis in a representative sample during the COVID-19 pandemic

The “risk compensation hypothesis” holds that vaccinated individuals may be less motivated to protect themselves using other COVID-19 mitigation behaviors—e.g., masking, distancing and hand hygiene—given that they may perceive their infection risk to be lower. The current investigation provides an empirical test of the risk compensation hypothesis in the COVID-19 context using prospective data from the Canadian COVID-19 Experiences Survey (CCES). The survey comprised 1,958 unvaccinated and fully vaccinated individuals drawn from a representative sample, using quota sampling to ensure substantial representation of unvaccinated individuals. Two waves of data were collected 6 months apart. Findings revealed that vaccinated individuals performed COVID-19 mitigation behaviors significantly more frequently than their unvaccinated counterparts, and they also showed lower rates of attenuation as the pandemic continued. In summary, our findings do not support the risk compensation hypothesis; instead they support the notion that people adopt vaccination and other protective behaviors in parallel.