Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, 202 S. 36th ST, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
Sci Rep. 2022 Nov 3;12(1):18632. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-22014-5.
Despite widespread availability of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines in the US, only about 66% of the eligible US population had taken the recommended initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccines as of April 2022. Explanations for this hesitancy have focused on misinformation about the vaccines, lack of trust in health authorities, and acceptance of conspiracy theories about the pandemic. Here we test whether those with a conspiratorial mindset, which distrusts a wide range of institutions, were poised to reject COVID vaccines before the pandemic even began. To answer that question, we reinterviewed members of a national US panel that we had previously surveyed beginning in 2018. As hypothesized, having a conspiratorial mindset in 2019 predicted COVID-vaccination hesitancy in 2021 better than prior trust in health authorities or acceptance of vaccine misinformation. Those with the mindset were also more likely to consume media that bolstered belief in pandemic conspiracies. Research is needed on the determinants of conspiratorial mindset and ways to minimize the likelihood that consequential health decisions will be influenced by it.
尽管美国已经广泛提供安全有效的 COVID-19 疫苗，但截至 2022 年 4 月，只有约 66%的符合条件的美国人口接种了推荐的 COVID-19 疫苗初始剂量。对于这种犹豫不决的解释主要集中在对疫苗的错误信息、对卫生当局的不信任以及对大流行阴谋论的接受上。在这里，我们测试了那些具有阴谋论思维的人，他们不信任广泛的机构，是否在大流行开始之前就准备好拒绝 COVID 疫苗。为了回答这个问题，我们重新采访了我们之前在 2018 年开始调查的一个美国全国性小组的成员。正如假设的那样，在 2019 年具有阴谋论思维，比之前对卫生当局的信任或对疫苗错误信息的接受度更好地预测了 2021 年对 COVID 疫苗的犹豫。那些具有这种思维模式的人也更有可能接触到支持大流行阴谋论的媒体。需要研究阴谋论思维的决定因素以及如何最大限度地减少它对重要健康决策的影响。
