Is Perceived COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy Associated With Risk Compensation in Preventative Behavior in Indonesia?

Abstract

Continuously high infection rates of the Severe acute respiratory virus-2 (SARS-Cov-2) may lead to the emergence of new strains. Preventative behavior such as wearing masks and hand hygiene are required to stop transmission, but there is concern that the perceived efficacy of vaccines could elicit risk compensation, leading to a decrease in preventative behavior. A convenience sample of 315 vaccinated Indonesian adults (mean age 36.2 years, 61% female) participated in this cross-sectional online study, completing measures of risk perception, social norm, perceived vaccine efficacy, pandemic fatigue, demographic characteristics, and preventative behavior between March and May 2022. Hierarchical regression of preventative behavior showed that perceived vaccine efficacy was a significant positive instead of negative predictor, thus providing no evidence for risk compensation (β = .154, P = .002). Potential explanations, implications and suggestions for further study are discussed.