Correcting Misperceptions about the MMR Vaccine

Using Psychological Risk Factors to Inform Targeted Communication Strategies

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6340314
AutoresKristin Lunz-Trujillo (0000-0001-5240-518X, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA, autor correspondente), Matthew Motta (0000-0002-2824-6833, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa, USA), T Callaghan (0000-0002-9056-9123, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA), Sylvester (0000-0002-2132-3082, Utah Valley University), Steven Sylvester (Utah Valley University, Orem, USA)
Ano2021
Volume74
Fascículo2
Páginas464-478
Data de publicação2021-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPolitical Research Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1065-9129 • E-ISSN: 1938-274X
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1065912920907695
OpenAlexW3012665407
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas25
Referências citadas62

Many Americans endorse misinformation about vaccine safety. This is problematic because those who do are more likely to resist evidence-based policies, such as mandatory vaccination for school attendance. Although many have attempted to correct misinformation about vaccines, few attempts have been successful. This study uses psychological correlates of vaccine misinformation acceptance to develop a novel misinformation correction strategy by tailoring provaccine messages to appeal to these psychological traits. For example, people with higher moral purity levels are more likely to view vaccines as contaminating the body, but messages highlighting disease via under-vaccination can use their higher moral purity to push them toward vaccine support. Using a large survey experiment ( N = 7,019) and a smaller replication experiment ( N = 825) of American adults, we demonstrate that interventions designed to appeal to people high in moral purity and needle sensitivity—two relatively understudied correlates of vaccine misinformation support—can also be targeted to effectively reduce vaccine misinformation endorsement. This study provides a better understanding of the psychological origins of misinformed political and policy attitudes, and it suggests a strategy for combating policy-related misinformation more generally, ultimately boosting support for evidence-based policies

Appeal · Attendance · Immunization · Internet privacy · Misinformation · Political science · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Public relations · Vaccine safety · Computer Science · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Psychology · Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy · Immunology