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Santangelo,, Omar Enzo ; Tögel, Jonas ; Kuhbandner, Christof

COVID-19 vaccinations among German university students: The role of fear of COVID-19 and risk assessment

Article

Santangelo,, Omar Enzo, Tögel, Jonas and Kuhbandner, Christof (2025) COVID-19 vaccinations among German university students: The role of fear of COVID-19 and risk assessment. PLOS One 20 (9), e0333082.

DOI to cite this document: 10.5283/epub.77946


Abstract

Studies on the reasons why people have opted for COVID-19 vaccination have shown that a higher fear of COVID-19 and a higher risk assessment of developing a serious illness in case of a SARS-CoV-2 infection correlate positively with higher vaccine uptake. The present study examined whether this also holds true for university students who face a very low risk of developing a serious illness. Fear ...

Studies on the reasons why people have opted for COVID-19 vaccination have shown that a higher fear of COVID-19 and a higher risk assessment of developing a serious illness in case of a SARS-CoV-2 infection correlate positively with higher vaccine uptake. The present study examined whether this also holds true for university students who face a very low risk of developing a serious illness. Fear of COVID-19, risk assessment, and the number of received COVID-19 vaccinations was measured using an online questionnaire which could be completed from December 15, 2022 to the end of January 2023. In total, data from 419 German university students was analyzed. The results show that the vaccination rate among German university students (93.6%) was higher than the vaccination rate of the general population of the same age group. Even in the group of university students who reported having no fear of COVID-19 at all, the vaccination rate was still 83%, and already the experience of low fear and the estimation of low risk led to the vaccination rate rising to almost 100%. Fear of COVID-19 also increased with the willingness to receive additional vaccinations after the initial two doses, and even in this case, already the experience of low fear was associated with a substantial increase in the rate of double-vaccinated individuals who continued to receive further vaccinations. These findings underline the role of fear in people’s decision for COVID-19 vaccination and specifically show that fear can play a substantial role even in groups of people who actually have a very low risk of becoming seriously ill.



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Details

Item typeArticle
Journal or Publication TitlePLOS One
PublisherPlos
Open Access TypeGold (with APC)
Volume20
Number of Issue or Book Chapter9
Page Rangee0333082
Date25 September 2025
Date of publication22 Oct 2025 10:02
InstitutionsHuman Sciences > Institut für Psychologie > Lehrstuhl für Psychologie VI (Pädagogische Psychologie) - Prof. Dr. Christof Kuhbandner
Identification Number
ValueType
10.1371/journal.pone.0333082DOI
KeywordsCOVID 19; Vaccination and immunization; Medical risk factors; Booster doses; Fear; SARS CoV 2; Hospitalizations; Vaccine development
Dewey Decimal Classification100 Philosophy & psychology > 150 Psychology
StatusPublished
RefereedYes, this version has been refereed
Created at the University of RegensburgYes
URN of the UB Regensburgurn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-779468
Item ID77946

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