Intragroup differences in COVID-19 vaccine attitudes among Black Americans

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Black Americans threatens to further magnify racial inequities in COVID-19 related health outcomes that emerged in the earliest stages of the pandemic. Here we shed new light on attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines by considering intragroup variation. Rather than analyzing Blacks as a homogenous group, we examine the relationship between COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and the extent to which participants are aligned with African American versus White culture (i.e., level of “acculturation”). In a sample of N=997 Black Americans, we find that stronger alignment with African American culture predicts substantially more negative attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination, above and beyond variation explained by age, gender, education, and socioeconomic status. This relationship was substantially attenuated when controlling for suspicion of the healthcare system, but not perceptions that healthcare system treats Blacks unfairly, science knowledge, or cognitive reflection. The intragroup differences among Blacks in COVID-19 vaccine perceptions uncovered here provide insights into designing interventions that provide health information that targets the relevant factors for vaccine hesitancy in differing subgroups.