Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2026-2
How to solve sandwich generation’s conundrum on vaccination decisions for self,children,and parents? An empirical analysis by integrating social cognitive and social influence perspectives
Vaccination against highly infectious diseases constitutes a major decision for the sandwich generation. However, a comprehensive understanding of the development of this critical decision is lacking. Toward this end, this study aims to investigate how two contrasting types of social influence, that is, compliance and conformity, distinctively shape the sandwich generation’s self-efficacy about vaccination for themselves, their children, and their parents. A moderated structural equation model was tested on the data collected from 590 voluntary subjects across China. The results reveal that the components of the sandwich generation’s self-efficacy: perceived safety, effectiveness, and trust in vaccines inflict differential effects on their vaccination decisions for themselves, their children, and their parents. Moreover, under high compliance, the sandwich generation shows a higher intention to vaccinate themselves and their parents than their children. Conformity weakens the effects of the sandwich generation’s self-efficacy on their vaccination decisions for the three targets.
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