There are many people who are strongly opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine. These antivax or antivaxxers have a million reasons not to want to be vaccinated. One study said they were confused to find the right reason to reject the vaccine.
Quoted from StudyFinds.org, Polish researchers from Jagiellonian University and SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities believe they have the answer to why people don’t want to be vaccinated.
The study authors concluded that much of the anti-vaxxer motivation stems from very vague negative attitudes toward vaccines, which have little or no basis that closely resembles science or concrete facts.
By surveying 492 people who thought they were unclear about vaccines or opposed vaccinations, it was found that a number of reason themes emerged repeatedly, including distrust of doctors, distrust of the larger medical community, and a tendency to agree with anti-vaccine arguments that attracted attention and became headline.
Confusingly, most participants told the researchers that their personal rejection of the COVID-19 vaccine was based on their own or others ’bad experiences with the vaccine.
However, when asked to really explain such an incident, almost everything turned out to be a vague explanation. For example, many say they don’t remember where they first heard that vaccines are dangerous. Or others mimic the common antivaks claim that vaccines can cause autism, allergies, or birth defects, without citing research or evidence to support their claims.
As a way out, these people are looking for must-have information, which can be used to support resistance to vaccines. The authors say this is known as validation bias, which is the tendency of humans to seek and remember information to support the beliefs they instill in themselves.
“Validation bias consists of individuals actively seeking information that fits existing hypotheses, and avoiding information that suggests alternative explanations,” the researchers explained.
Thus, a negative attitude towards an existing vaccine, can encourage individuals to interpret negative symptoms as a result of the vaccine, which further reinforces the negative attitude.
In addition, usually people also forget where they first learned or heard about something, if they heard information from various sources. In some cases, that information can blend in with everyday life, confusing someone between something they read online and real -life experiences. The research team thinks this may also have contributed to their findings.
Trust anti-vaccines from doctors
The study authors added that their data showed antivaxxers believe that vaccines always cause serious side effects, do not protect people from disease, and do not have accurate testing before distributing them to the public.
Worryingly, most vaccine denials also believe that antivax “leaders” have more reliable information on all of these problems than real doctors.
In their view, people who deliberately create websites and social media about antivax are more concerned about public health than doctors and specialists.
Meanwhile, those who doubted the vaccine, in this study, said that they generally believed that the vaccine was effective and developed correctly.
The researchers found that the group was particularly vulnerable to statements related to the anti-vaccine movement involving the “Big Pharma” conspiracy. In other words, individuals who are skeptical about this vaccine may still be pro-vaccine or be anti-vaccine depending on the information they find.
The researchers concluded by stating that there is little scientific evidence to date that suggests that the antivaxer mindset can actually be altered. Therefore, they recommend that vaccination awareness campaigns focus their efforts on reaching out to skeptics.
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