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Soveri A, Karlsson LC, Mäki KO, Holford D, Fasce A, Schmid P, Antfolk J, Karlsson L, Karlsson H, Nolvi S, Karukivi M, Lindfelt M, Lewandowsky S. Trait reactance as psychological motivation to reject vaccination: Two longitudinal studies and one experimental study. Appl Psychol Health Well Being 2024; 16:597-614. [PMID: 37942873 DOI: 10.1111/aphw.12506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023]
Abstract
Anti-science attitudes can be resilient to scientific evidence if they are rooted in psychological motives. One such motive is trait reactance, which refers to the need to react with opposition when one's freedom of choice has been threatened. In three studies, we investigated trait reactance as a psychological motivation to reject vaccination. In the longitudinal studies (n = 199; 293), we examined if trait reactance measured before the COVID-19 pandemic was related to people's willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 up to 2 years later during the pandemic. In the experimental study (n = 398), we tested whether trait reactance makes anti-vaccination attitudes more resistant to information and whether this resistance can be mitigated by framing the information to minimize the risk of triggering state reactance. The longitudinal studies showed that higher trait reactance before the COVID-19 pandemic was related to lower willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Our experimental study indicated that highly reactant individuals' willingness to vaccinate was unaffected by the amount and framing of the information provided. Trait reactance has a strong and durable impact on vaccination willingness. This highlights the importance of considering the role of trait reactance in people's vaccination-related decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Soveri
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Linda C Karlsson
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Karl O Mäki
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Dawn Holford
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Angelo Fasce
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Philipp Schmid
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Institute for Planetary Health Behavior, Erfurt, Germany
- Health Communication Working Group, Implementation Research, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jan Antfolk
- Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | - Linnea Karlsson
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Hasse Karlsson
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Saara Nolvi
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Max Karukivi
- Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Mikael Lindfelt
- Department of Theology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | - Stephan Lewandowsky
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
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Karlsson LC, Mäki KO, Holford D, Fasce A, Schmid P, Lewandowsky S, Soveri A. Testing Psychological Inoculation to Reduce Reactance to Vaccine-Related Communication. Health Commun 2024:1-9. [PMID: 38450609 DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2024.2325185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Research has found that vaccine-promoting messages can elicit state reactance (i.e., negative emotions in response to a perceived threat to behavioral freedom), especially among individuals with high trait reactance (i.e., proneness to experiencing reactance). This can result in a lower willingness to accept vaccines. We investigated whether inoculation against reactance - that is, forewarning individuals about potentially experiencing reactance - can reduce the effects of trait reactance on vaccination willingness. Participants (N = 710) recruited through Facebook were randomly allocated to be either inoculated or not. They were then shown a message promoting a fictitious vaccine, which included either a low, medium, or high threat to freedom. Contrary to research on other health topics, inoculation was ineffective at reducing state reactance toward the vaccination message. Inoculation also did not mitigate the effects of trait reactance on vaccination willingness, and was even counterproductive in some cases. High-reactant individuals were less willing to get vaccinated than low-reactant ones, especially at high freedom threat. Conversely, high freedom threat resulted in increased vaccination willingness among low-reactant individuals. Further research is needed to understand why inoculation against reactance produces different results with vaccination, and to develop communication strategies that mitigate reactance to vaccination campaigns without compromising the positive effects of vaccine recommendations for low-reactant individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Karl O Mäki
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku
| | - Dawn Holford
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol
| | | | - Philipp Schmid
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen
| | - Stephan Lewandowsky
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia
| | - Anna Soveri
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku
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Holford D, Schmid P, Fasce A, Lewandowsky S. The empathetic refutational interview to tackle vaccine misconceptions: Four randomized experiments. Health Psychol 2024:2024-59360-001. [PMID: 38436659 DOI: 10.1037/hea0001354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We introduce and report early stage testing of a novel, multicomponent intervention that can be used by healthcare professionals (HCPs) to address false or misleading antivaccination arguments while maintaining empathy for and understanding of people's motivations to believe misinformation: the "Empathetic Refutational Interview" (ERI). METHOD We conducted four experiments in 2022 with participants who were predominantly negative or on the fence about vaccination (total n = 2,545) to test four steps for tailoring an HCP's response to a vaccine-hesitant individual: (a) elicit their concerns, (b) affirm their values and beliefs to the extent possible, (c) refute the misinformed beliefs in their reasoning in a way that is tailored to their psychological motivations, and (d) provide factual information about vaccines. Each of the steps was tested against active control conditions, with participants randomized to conditions. RESULTS Overall, compared to controls, we found that observing steps of the ERI produced small effects on increasing vaccine acceptance and lowering support for antivaccination arguments. Critically, an HCP who affirmed participants' concerns generated significantly more support for their refutations and subsequent information, with large effects compared to controls. In addition, participants found tailored refutations (compared to control responses) more compelling, and displayed more trust and openness toward the HCP giving them. CONCLUSIONS The ERI can potentially be leveraged and tested further as a tailored communication tool for HCPs to refute antivaccination misconceptions while maintaining trust and rapport with patients. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Dawn Holford
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol
| | - Philipp Schmid
- Department of Language and Communication, Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University
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Holford D, Fasce A, Tapper K, Demko M, Lewandowsky S, Hahn U, Abels CM, Al-Rawi A, Alladin S, Sonia Boender T, Bruns H, Fischer H, Gilde C, Hanel PHP, Herzog SM, Kause A, Lehmann S, Nurse MS, Orr C, Pescetelli N, Petrescu M, Sah S, Schmid P, Sirota M, Wulf M. Science Communication as a Collective Intelligence Endeavor: A Manifesto and Examples for Implementation. Sci Commun 2023; 45:539-554. [PMID: 37994373 PMCID: PMC7615322 DOI: 10.1177/10755470231162634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
Effective science communication is challenging when scientific messages are informed by a continually updating evidence base and must often compete against misinformation. We argue that we need a new program of science communication as collective intelligence-a collaborative approach, supported by technology. This would have four key advantages over the typical model where scientists communicate as individuals: scientific messages would be informed by (a) a wider base of aggregated knowledge, (b) contributions from a diverse scientific community, (c) participatory input from stakeholders, and (d) better responsiveness to ongoing changes in the state of knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Miso Demko
- Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Helen Fischer
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Maria Petrescu
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL, USA
| | | | | | | | - Marlene Wulf
- Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
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Holford D, Tognon G, Gladwell V, Murray K, Nicoll M, Knox A, McCloy R, Loaiza V. Planning engagement with web resources to improve diet quality and break up sedentary time for home-working employees: A mixed methods study. J Occup Health Psychol 2023; 28:224-238. [PMID: 37578780 PMCID: PMC10424491 DOI: 10.1037/ocp0000356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
As home working becomes more common, employers may struggle to provide health promotion interventions that can successfully bridge the gap between employees' intentions to engage in healthier behaviors and actual action. Based on past evidence that action planning can successfully encourage the adoption of healthier behaviors, this mixed-methods study of a web-based self-help intervention incorporated a randomized planning trial that included quantitative measures of engagement and follow-up qualitative interviews with a subsample of participants. Participants either (a) selected a movement plan for incorporating a series of 2-min exercise videos into their work week to break up sedentary time and a balanced meal plan with recipe cards for a week's lunches and dinners or (b) received access to these resources without a plan. Selecting a movement plan was more effective at increasing engagement with the web resources compared to the no-plan condition. In the follow-up interviews, participants indicated that the plan helped to remind participants to engage with the resources and made it simpler for them to follow the guidance for exercises and meals. Ease of use and being able to fit exercises and meals around work tasks were key factors that facilitated uptake of the resources, while lack of time and worries about how colleagues would perceive them taking breaks to use the resources were barriers to uptake. Participants' self-efficacy was associated with general resource use but not plan adherence. Overall, including plans with online self-help resources could enhance their uptake. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Valerie Gladwell
- School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, University of Essex
| | - Kelly Murray
- School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, University of Essex
| | | | | | - Rachel McCloy
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading
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Karlsson LC, Garrison A, Holford D, Fasce A, Lewandowsky S, Taubert F, Schmid P, Betsch C, Rodrigues F, Fressard L, Verger P, Soveri A. Healthcare professionals' attitudes to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination: Cross-sectional survey data from four European countries. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2023; 19:2256442. [PMID: 37724556 PMCID: PMC10512846 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2023.2256442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Mandatory vaccinations are widely debated since they restrict individuals' autonomy in their health decisions. As healthcare professionals (HCPs) are a common target group of vaccine mandates, and also form a link between vaccination policies and the public, understanding their attitudes toward vaccine mandates is important. The present study investigated physicians' attitudes to COVID-19 vaccine mandates in four European countries: Finland, France, Germany, and Portugal. An electronic survey assessing attitudes to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and general vaccination attitudes (e.g. perceived vaccine safety, trust in health authorities, and openness to patients) was sent to physicians in the spring of 2022. A total of 2796 physicians responded. Across all countries, 78% of the physicians were in favor of COVID-19 vaccine mandates for HCPs, 49% favored COVID-19 vaccine mandates for the public, and 67% endorsed COVID-19 health passes. Notable differences were observed between countries, with attitudes to mandates found to be more positive in countries where the mandate, or similar mandates, were in effect. The associations between attitudes to mandates and general vaccination attitudes were mostly small to neglectable and differed between countries. Nevertheless, physicians with more positive mandate attitudes perceived vaccines as more beneficial (in Finland and France) and had greater trust in medical authorities (in France and Germany). The present study contributes to the body of research within social and behavioral sciences that support evidence-based vaccination policymaking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda C. Karlsson
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Amanda Garrison
- Faculté des Sciences Médicales et Paramédicales, Southeastern Health Regional Observatory (Observatoire Régional de la Santé, ORS-PACA), Marseille, France
| | - Dawn Holford
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Angelo Fasce
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Stephan Lewandowsky
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Frederike Taubert
- Institute for Planetary Health Behavior, Health Communication, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany
- Health Communication Working Group, Implementation Research, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Philipp Schmid
- Institute for Planetary Health Behavior, Health Communication, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany
- Health Communication Working Group, Implementation Research, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Cornelia Betsch
- Institute for Planetary Health Behavior, Health Communication, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany
- Health Communication Working Group, Implementation Research, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - Lisa Fressard
- Faculté des Sciences Médicales et Paramédicales, Southeastern Health Regional Observatory (Observatoire Régional de la Santé, ORS-PACA), Marseille, France
| | - Pierre Verger
- Faculté des Sciences Médicales et Paramédicales, Southeastern Health Regional Observatory (Observatoire Régional de la Santé, ORS-PACA), Marseille, France
| | - Anna Soveri
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
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Garrison A, Karlsson L, Fressard L, Fasce A, Rodrigues F, Schmid P, Taubert F, Holford D, Lewandowsky S, Nynäs P, Anderson EC, Gagneur A, Dubé E, Soveri A, Verger P. International adaptation and validation of the Pro-VC-Be: measuring the psychosocial determinants of vaccine confidence in healthcare professionals in European countries. Expert Rev Vaccines 2023; 22:726-737. [PMID: 37507356 DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2023.2242479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Healthcare professionals (HCPs) play an important role in vaccination; those with low confidence in vaccines are less likely to recommend them to their patients and to be vaccinated themselves. The study's purpose was to adapt and validate long- and short-form versions of the International Professionals' Vaccine Confidence and Behaviors (I-Pro-VC-Be) questionnaire to measure psychosocial determinants of HCPs' vaccine confidence and their associations with vaccination behaviors in European countries. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS After the original French-language Pro-VC-Be was culturally adapted and translated, HCPs involved in vaccination (mainly GPs and pediatricians) across Germany, Finland, France, and Portugal completed a cross-sectional online survey in 2022. A 10-factor multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA) of the long-form (10 factors comprising 34 items) tested for measurement invariance across countries. Modified multiple Poisson regressions tested the criterion validity of both versions. RESULTS 2,748 HCPs participated. The 10-factor structure fit was acceptable to good everywhere. The final MG-CFA model confirmed strong factorial invariance and showed very good fit. The long- and short-form I-Pro-VC-Be had good criterion validity with vaccination behaviors. CONCLUSION This study validates the I-Pro-VC-Be among HCPs in four European countries; including long- and short-form tools for use in research and public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Garrison
- Faculté des Sciences Médicales Et Paramédicales, Southeastern Health Regional Observatory (Observatoire Régional de la Santé, ORS) PACA, Marseille, France
| | - Linda Karlsson
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Lisa Fressard
- Faculté des Sciences Médicales Et Paramédicales, Southeastern Health Regional Observatory (Observatoire Régional de la Santé, ORS) PACA, Marseille, France
| | - Angelo Fasce
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | | | - Philipp Schmid
- Institute for Planetary Health Behaviour, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany
- Health Communication, Department of Implementation Research, Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Frederike Taubert
- Institute for Planetary Health Behaviour, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany
- Health Communication, Department of Implementation Research, Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Dawn Holford
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Stephan Lewandowsky
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Peter Nynäs
- Faculty of Arts, Psychology and Theology, Abo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | | | - Arnaud Gagneur
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
| | - Eve Dubé
- Département d'anthropologie, Faculté des Sciences Sociales, Université Laval, Laval, Canada
| | - Anna Soveri
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Pierre Verger
- Faculté des Sciences Médicales Et Paramédicales, Southeastern Health Regional Observatory (Observatoire Régional de la Santé, ORS) PACA, Marseille, France
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Lewandowsky S, Holford D, Schmid P. Public policy and conspiracies: The case of mandates. Curr Opin Psychol 2022; 47:101427. [PMID: 36029701 PMCID: PMC9296372 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Revised: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Although conspiracy theories are only endorsed by a minority, conspiracy theories can nonetheless compromise public health measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals who endorse conspiracy theories were less likely to wear masks, comply with social distancing, or get vaccinated. This poses a challenge to public health policy, in particular because vaccine uptake lags behind targets because of resistance from a relatively small, but highly vocal, number of people. One policy tool is to enact vaccine mandates, which, while controversial, have successfully increased vaccination uptake. In this article, we review the evidence about whether mandates can be successful, and whether they trigger increased opposition and conspiracy beliefs. We discuss the implications for using mandates in public health policy and argue that decisions about mandates need to be weighed against the consequences of alternative measures—which may also increase conspiracy beliefs albeit for different reasons.
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