According to a new study, people who had a conspiracy mindset in 2019, before the pandemic, were more likely to follow COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
People who had conspiracy theories on topics like fluoridation of the public water formula and the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks were maximum maximums probably to say in 2021 that they believed, for example, that the coronavirus created by the Chinese as a biological weapon or that Bill Gates maliciously intervened in the design of COVID vaccines.
These Americans were also more likely in January 2021 to report doubts about getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
“By re-interviewing Americans before the pandemic, we can uncover the bureaucracy of trust that predisposed some in the U. S. to the U. S. “We were wary of COVID vaccines long before the pathogen left its mark on our shores,” says co-author Kathleen Hall. Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) at the University of Pennsylvania. “We found that having a conspiracy mentality played a vital role. “
Dan Romer, senior director and studies at the APPC, says, “The locations illustrate the importance of localization tactics in undermining a general conspiracy mentality and conspiracies about health-related issues in particular. “
The researchers re-interviewed in 2021 a nationally representative panel that had been created in 2018 to examine vaccine resistance resources. There were initially 3,000 U. S. adults on the panel, and researchers were due to re-interview 1243 panel members in January 2021, following the 2020 presidential election and after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines.
The panel was asked about several conceivable resources of pre-pandemic hesitation, such as the lack of acceptance of the truth at the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the acceptance of incorrect information about the protection and effectiveness of other vaccines such as the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella), and the tendency to believe conspiracy theories that questioned the credibility of government and the adequacy of government.
When those 3 points were included in a style to wait for doubts about the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021, accepting as true with a fit government and accepting incorrect information in 2019 played less of a role in waiting for doubts than the trend in conspiracies, also known as a conspiracy mentality.
Although several new bureaucracies of incorrect information about COVID vaccines emerged in 2020, such as the claim that the COVID vaccine alters a person’s DNA, those ideals were more likely to be accepted by those with a conspiratorial mindset. These other people were more likely to incorporate the new incorrect information about COVID-19 vaccination with the old incorrect information about vaccination in general and about express vaccines like MMR and flu vaccine.
The survey found that about 20% of the panel could settle for conspiracy theories in 2019 when temperament was measured by asking whether respondents believed conspiracy theories such as fluoridation of public water materials is a conspiracy to sell dangerous tea, and that the Sept. 11 attacks were planned through the U. S. government.
In 2021, another measure was used that asked questions about the more generic bureaucracy of the conspiracy, as if our lives were controlled through conspiracies hatched in secret places. Respondents who tended to settle for the first set of conspiracies would likely also settle for the last, more generic conspiracies, even if measured two years apart.
Other points that predicted willingness to get vaccinated against COVID were considerations about the dangers of contracting COVID and willingness to get a flu shot. Both predictors were also negatively related to conspiracy thinking two years earlier.
The researchers also looked at changes in conspiracy mindset from 2019 to 2021. They found that the political clash surrounding the pandemic, with more vaccine-resistant Republicans and more tolerant Democrats, also seemed to cement conspiracy theory among some. Specifically, Republicans and those who rely on conservative media like Fox News were more likely to settle for conspiracy theories in 2021 than in 2019. The opposite is true for Democrats, who were more likely to use traditional media and have become less willing to endorse conspiracies.
Other differences in anti-vaccination trends appeared to decline over the course of the pandemic. For example, older people were less likely to be vaccinated with incorrect information in 2021 than in 2019. Similar adjustments occurred for people with higher knowledge and higher incomes. Surveyed.
“The main implication of our findings,” the authors write, “is that efforts to inspire acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines will rely not only on providing data on their efficacy and protection from resources that members of the public find credible, but also [in] the wisdom of vaccination in general.
One strategy they recommend is to focus on expanding the wisdom point of those who don’t know whether misinformed claims are accurate or not, than to focus on dislodging already nurtured misconceptions, which is a more complicated task.
They also expand transparency about the potential harms of vaccines and highlight pro-vaccination statements from alleged conspiracy promoters, such as former President Trump.
What’s new appears in Scientific Reports.
Source: Pennsylvania
Study DOI: 10. 1038/s41598-022-22014-5
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