Is cancer treatment immune from partisan conflict? How partisan communication motivates opposition to preventative cancer vaccination in the U.S.

ABSTRACT

Cancer impacts the lives of Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike. While we might therefore expect cancer vaccines to have bi-partisan appeal, experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic suggest that partisan psychological attachments motivate some Americans to reject life-saving preventatives, even amid unprecedented public health threat. In a demographically representative survey of N = 1,959 US Adults, I tracked how intentions to receive preventative cancer vaccines (currently undergoing clinical trials) vary by partisan identity. I also fielded a pre-registered RCT that varied exposure to partisan/bi-partisan cancer research funding “credit claiming” messages. I find that cancer vaccines are already politically polarizing, such that Republicans are less likely than Democrats to intend to vaccinate. I conceptually replicate these findings in application to a second hypothetical vaccine for non-communicable illness; experimental preventatives for Alzheimer’s disease. Critically, I find that when elite Democrats claim credit for funding cancer research, Republicans become even less likely to intend to vaccinate. Collectively, these results suggest that partisan asymmetries in vaccine uptake extends to developmental vaccines that could prevent life-threatening, non-communicable disease.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declarations

Funding (N/A), Conflict of Interest (N/A), Ethics Approval (Deemed exempt by the Institutional Review Board at [BLINDED]: IRB-20-197), Consent to Participate (“I am at least 18 years old, have read and understood the statements above, and agree to participate in this research.”), Consent for Publication (N/A).