Religious beliefs and practices, political orientation, and distrust in healthcare predict attitudes toward mRNA vaccines in the United States
- 1Division of General Medicine & Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
- 2Rosemead School of Psychology, Biola University, La Mirada, California, United States of America
Abstract
Religion has contributed to societal divides regarding COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. In this study, we conducted a secondary analysis of a survey of U.S. adults (N = 4939) focused on how religious affiliations, beliefs, and practices impact attitudes toward genetic and genomic activities, one of which was mRNA vaccines. The dataset included large samples of participants from six religious groups in the U.S. (Black Protestant, Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, Jewish, Mainline Protestant, and Muslim), as well as individuals who were atheist, agnostic, or spiritual. ANCOVA results indicated that Evangelical Protestant participants showed significantly less support for mRNA vaccines than other groups, while atheist participants were the most supportive. Muslim participants had the highest concerns, whereas atheist participants had the lowest. Regression analyses indicated the strongest predictors of support for mRNA vaccines were more spiritual community support for community health, followed by higher acceptance of evolution, more liberal political orientation, less distrust toward the healthcare system, higher frequency of attending religious activities, higher income, lower fundamentalist religious beliefs, and more spiritual community support for liberal reproductive and end of life views. The strongest predictors of concerns about mRNA vaccines were more distrust toward the healthcare system and more conservative political orientation, followed by less spiritual community support for community health, stronger beliefs about God in the body, more fundamentalist religious beliefs, and lower knowledge of genetics. The large sample size and examination of a broad array of religious variables alongside distrust and political orientation offer new insights. These findings add to the literature on the culture wars surrounding mRNA vaccines, and can perhaps aid in future efforts to build trust and relationships between public health and religious communities.
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BibTeX
@article{solomon2026religious,
title = {{Religious beliefs and practices, political orientation, and distrust in healthcare predict attitudes toward mRNA vaccines in the United States}},
author = {Erin D. Solomon and Eu Gene Chin and Kari Baldwin and Lauren L. Baker and James M. DuBois},
journal = {PLOS Global Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pgph.0006330},
url = {https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0006330},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Religious beliefs and practices, political orientation, and distrust in healthcare predict attitudes toward mRNA vaccines in the United States
AU - Erin D. Solomon
AU - Eu Gene Chin
AU - Kari Baldwin
AU - Lauren L. Baker
AU - James M. DuBois
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/09
JO - PLOS Global Public Health
DO - 10.1371/journal.pgph.0006330
UR - https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0006330
AB - Religion has contributed to societal divides regarding COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. In this study, we conducted a secondary analysis of a survey of U.S. adults (N = 4939) focused on how religious affiliations, beliefs, and practices impact attitudes toward genetic and genomic activities, one of which was mRNA vaccines. The dataset included large samples of participants from six religious groups in the U.S. (Black Protestant, Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, Jewish, Mainline Protestant, and Muslim), as well as individuals who were atheist, agnostic, or spiritual. ANCOVA results indicated that Evangelical Protestant participants showed significantly less support for mRNA vaccines than other groups, while atheist participants were the most supportive. Muslim participants had the highest concerns, whereas atheist participants had the lowest. Regression analyses indicated the strongest predictors of support for mRNA vaccines were more spiritual community support for community health, followed by higher acceptance of evolution, more liberal political orientation, less distrust toward the healthcare system, higher frequency of attending religious activities, higher income, lower fundamentalist religious beliefs, and more spiritual community support for liberal reproductive and end of life views. The strongest predictors of concerns about mRNA vaccines were more distrust toward the healthcare system and more conservative political orientation, followed by less spiritual community support for community health, stronger beliefs about God in the body, more fundamentalist religious beliefs, and lower knowledge of genetics. The large sample size and examination of a broad array of religious variables alongside distrust and political orientation offer new insights. These findings add to the literature on the culture wars surrounding mRNA vaccines, and can perhaps aid in future efforts to build trust and relationships between public health and religious communities.
SN - 2767-3375
ER -