Journal Article

DKFZ-2026-01156

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png The ethics and moral psychology of HPV vaccination: Evidence from a cross-cultural study.

Petino Zappala, M. A. (First author) ; Quint, A.DKFZ* ; Nguyen, T. N. P.DKFZ* ; Schulz, J.DKFZ* ; Doerflinger, J. T. ; Heinzelmann, N. C.

2026
Elsevier Science Amsterdam [u.a.]

Abstract: Vaccine hesitancy is a major threat to public health worldwide. Debates about vaccines are often moralized; however, how ethics and ethical judgments relate to vaccination intention remains underexplored. Here, we identify ethically relevant concerns from the academic literature that we operationalize for a pre-registered survey to study how ethical judgments relate to parents' intentions to vaccinate their children against HPV. We also investigate potential sociocultural influences on ethical judgments: we compare parents from the US, the UK, and Germany. We find that parents' ethical judgments in all countries are strongly associated with vaccination intention. We also find cross-cultural differences in how their trust in science, physicians, and institutions relates to perceived sociomoral pressure. Still, in the three countries trust moderates the negative correlation between perceived health risks and vaccination intention. These results suggest that campaigns highlighting ethical aspects of vaccination and targeting relevant moral concerns could be effective against hesitancy.

Keyword(s): Empirical ethics ; HPV ; Moral psychology ; Trust ; Vaccination ; Vaccine ethics ; Vaccine hesitancy

Note: ISSN 0277-9536

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. Klinische Epidemiologie der Krebsfrüherkennung (C070)

Research Program(s):

1. 313 - Krebsrisikofaktoren und Prävention (POF4-313) (POF4-313)

Appears in the scientific report 2026

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Database coverage:
; ; Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List ; Current Contents - Clinical Medicine ; Current Contents - Social and Behavioral Sciences ; Ebsco Academic Search ; Essential Science Indicators ; IF >= 5 ; JCR ; Nationallizenz ; SCOPUS ; Science Citation Index Expanded ; Social Sciences Citation Index ; Web of Science Core Collection

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