Uncertainty and inoculation: Instilling resistance to anti-vaccination conspiracy propaganda

ABSTRACT

Employing inoculation theory as a theoretical framework, we conducted an independent-groups experiment (N = 150), comparing the effects of an inoculation treatment to a control condition and examining uncertainty as a mediator of inoculation effects. To test inoculation effectiveness, we used an excerpt from an anti-vaccination conspiracy film Vaxxed as a counterattitudinal attack message. The results indicated that inoculation roused motivational defenses to protect initial attitudes and, subsequently, was effective at conferring resistance to conspiracy propaganda. Furthermore, relative to the control condition, inoculation treatment decreased attitudinal uncertainty. Importantly, and as predicted, within the inoculation condition, attitudinal uncertainty emerged as a mediator of the resistance process: For inoculated participants, an increase in motivational threat to defend one’s attitudes fostered by the inoculation treatment reduced uncertainty, and attitudinal certainty, subsequently, facilitated resistance against the message advocated in the conspiracy film, damaging to public health. These results have theoretical implications for research on inoculation and offer practical import for attempts at mitigating conspiratorial ideation.

KEYWORDS:

• Uncertainty
• inoculation
• anti-vaccination movement
• resistance
• prebunking
• conspiracy theories

Disclosure statement

The authors do not have any conflict of interest influencing these results.

Notes

1. University of Oklahoma IRB approval (# 10667) was obtained for this data collection.

2. Originally, two inoculation conditions (fact-based inoculation treatment and logic-based inoculation treatment) were part of the experimental induction. The difference between these two conditions was not significant on all dependent variables in the study. As a result, the cells were collapsed across the two experimental conditions. These analyses are reported elsewhere (see Banas et al., 2023).

3. Forming indexes using principal axis factoring does not change the nature of study results. All bivariate correlations between the indexes formed using principal component analysis and principal axis factoring were > .98.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences’ Senior Faculty Summer Fellowship awarded to Elena Bessarabova.

Notes on contributors

Elena Bessarabova

Elena Bessarabova is an Associate Professor of Communication. Her research interests include examining maladaptive information processing and decision-making as well as testing communication strategies that can help mitigate bias and misinformation. Her research appears in top communication and interdisciplinary journals. Her most recent work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Oklahoma Aerospace & Defense Innovation Institute, and Data Institute for Societal Challenges.

John A. Banas

John A. Banas is a Professor of Communication. His scholarship primarily focuses on preventing maladaptive influence attempts, including misinformation and conspiracy theories. His scholarship has appeared in top communication and interdisciplinary journals.