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Greater intergroup bias in vaccination attitudes among physicians than the general public

Murakami, M.; Ohtake, F.

2026-04-25 infectious diseases
10.64898/2026.04.23.26351641 medRxiv
Show abstract

While vaccination conflicts have become apparent, physicians attitudes toward those with differing views remain unclear. Through an online survey of 492 physicians and 5,252 members of the general public in Japan in February 2026, we investigated attitudes toward four vaccines (influenza, measles, HPV, and COVID-19). Intergroup bias was assessed as ingroup minus outgroup attitudes using a feeling thermometer. Multilevel regression examined associations with agreement group and physician status. Intergroup bias was significantly positive in both agreement and disagreement groups across all vaccine types, and was higher in the agreement group. Physicians exhibited higher intergroup bias than the general public. These findings indicate that vaccination conflict is bidirectional: physicians, often viewed as targets of hostility from vaccine-hesitant individuals, themselves exhibit greater intergroup bias toward those with opposing views. Interventions to raise physicians awareness of their own bias, alongside communication strategies for vaccine-hesitant individuals, are needed.

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