Underlying Psychology behind the growing Anti-Vaccine Trends

(Posted by Rishab Nandan – 8.02.19)

Recently, experts have begun to understand the psychology behind anti-vaccine movements, rather, have found answers as to why these movements continue to grow in size despite information that what they are doing is unsafe, and their motives have been largely disproven. 

It has been revealed that there exist many online social groups that are anti-vaccine which employ a phenomenon called social trust to convert parents to believers of their cause. Take for example, the case of Maranda Dynda, who was sucked into the movement, per a recent discussion on National Public Radio (NPR) with Shankar Vedantam [1],[2] . When Maranda was pregnant, her midwife had advised her that vaccinations could cause harm to children, which Maranda was initially very sceptical about. However, when she started to look into it, she stumbled across an anti vaccine facebook group filled with moms who agreed with the midwife. They would bombard Maranda with stories about negative consequences of vaccination, and were actually very helpful, sharing tips on “regular mom stuff,” as Daynda described. By doing so, created an environment that Maranda trusted, and she did not vaccinate her child for some time. Other than the midwife, Maranda had no prior connection to the movement.

This is not to say that the Anti-Vacciners do this to intentionally mislead people. Rather, their vehement belief in the negative effects of vaccination pushes them to form these groups, and their approach of relating to people in real ways and making genuine connections on issues close to the minds and hearts of expecting parents, draws them in. 

Another psychological phenomenon contributing to the growth of anti vaccine movements is the human tendency to base beliefs on pre existing views. According to field expert Shankar Vedantam, “… there is a small warehouse backed with research studies that find that our beliefs on all manner of issues are shaped by our pre-existing views. You know, that doesn’t mean we’re completely deaf to the evidence, it just means that we filter how we interpret the evidence through our pre-existing beliefs and our loyalties to various groups and tribes.” This is the best explanation for why anti vacciners stay largely unyielding in their stance even when they are countered with overwhelming scientific evidence against their cause.

Obviously, it will take a lot to overcome these human tendencies and halt the operations and spreading of these movements. For this reason, we must focus efforts on spreading awareness against the movement before people are too far entrenched in their beliefs. 

Works Cited

[1] Vedantam, Shankar. “The Psychology Behind Why Some Kids Go Unvaccinated.” WPPB, http://www.peconicpublicbroadcasting.org/post/psychology-behind-why-some-kids-go-unvaccinated.

[2] Vedantam, Shankar. “When It Comes To Vaccines And Autism, Why Is It Hard To Refute Misinformation?” NPR, NPR, 22 July 2019, http://www.npr.org/2019/07/22/744023623/when-it-comes-to-vaccines-and-autism-why-is-it-hard-to-refute-misinformation.