Political Partisanship, Confucian Collectivism, and Public Attitudes toward the Vaccination Policy in Taiwan

Context: Conventional wisdom suggests that people with a collectivist tradition tend to comply more with the government's regulatory and even coercive disease-prevention policies. In addition to this sociocultural element, political partisanship is also an important aspect relating to people's willingness to cooperate with the government. This study aims to examine the relationships between these two factors and three dimensions of vaccination policy attitudes: common responsibility to take the vaccine, the government's vaccine mandate, and indignation over anti-vaxxers. Methods: Using data from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey conducted in 2022 in Taiwan, this study applies multiple linear ordinary least squares regression to examine the relationships between vaccination policy attitudes and Confucian collectivism and political partisanship. Findings: Confucian collectivism and political partisanship aligning with the ruling party are associated with attitudes supporting vaccination policy. For those who do not align with the ruling party, negative attitudes toward the vaccination policy appear in different dimensions according to the party they lean toward. Conclusions: Confucian collectivism is prevalent in Taiwan and is related to public attitudes toward vaccination policy. This association is independent of political partisanship. Public health authorities should consider the sociocultural context and political atmosphere for the effectiveness of disease-prevention measures.