Psychology of an Anti-Vaxxer

Anti-vaxxers are individuals who are resistant to being vaccinated for a range of reasons. Their reasons for avoiding vaccination can either stem from fear, or derive from their general distrust in the government and their motives. For years, governments and scientific individuals have attempted to eradicate these vaccine fears through the increasing use of authoritative and scientific educational methods but, despite the accuracy and validity of these methods, these attempts have proven to be ineffective and Anti-vaxxers seem to be unaffected by these facts due to their disposition and inclination to believe in conspiracies over facts, and the solidarity that they often form in social media groups that lead to the creation of toxic echo chambers (an environment where the same information bounces around and is never met or contradicted by any alternative point of view). This essay will explore these concepts in more depth and analyze how and exactly why empirical evidence is ineffective towards anti-vaxxers, deeply delve into the psyche and ways of thinking of Anti-vaxxers, and consequently uncover the exact reasons why anti-vaxxers are so hesitant to adopt change or listen to reason.

Anti-vaxxers are more susceptible to conspiratorial ideation (the belief that society is being shaped and influenced by sinister government organizations) and have an overall paranoid and suspicious outward view on the way that they perceive society; this affects how they perceive government figures. They view conspiracy theories as a way of alarming and educating themselves about the injustices of the world. They indulge in them often as a way to feel distant from the threats of society, and as a way to cope with their anxious and fearful emotions about the world that they live in (Douglas et al.2017); because of this, Anti-vaxxers also see the government as a sinister and secretive authoritative system working together with pharmaceutical industries (often described or coined “The Big Pharma” to control the masses (Mitra et al. 2016). Thus, attempts made by the government to use factual and authoritative methods to solve the growing issue of vaccine hesitancy have often either been unsuccessful or have backfired. Conspiracy theories are a form of intuitively satisfying and non-scientific explanation for natural phenomena that Anti-vaxxers prefer over actual foreign, suspicious, and artificial sounding empirical evidence (Browne 2018). Additionally, with the availability of scientific evidence, or with opposition from people who support vaccines, Anti-vaxxers are highly unlikely to change their stance or perspectives. This is because they have a confirmation bias which forces them to only pay attention to information that supports their beliefs (Weele 2019).

Conspiracy theories are “self-sealing”. Any objection to the conspiracy theory can often act as proof to support the validity of the conspiracy theory; (any scientific individual trying to discredit a conspiracy theory can be immediately deemed as suspicious and inherently evil, thus supporting the conspiracy theorist’s original claims) (Mitra et al. 2016). This makes it incredibly difficult for governments, scientists, and other informed individuals to try and disprove vaccine myths.

Conspiracy theories are also a part of set values and beliefs that create a psychological balance in the minds of Anti-vaxxers, challenging this balance disrupts the very core and integrity of their intrinsic beliefs, and this is why they often feel so strongly about defending their stance on vaccines and rejecting any ulterior viewpoint (Browne 2018).

In addition to disregarding scientific evidence and following homeopathic non-scientific solutions to vaccines as a fact, Anti-vaxxers also heavily rely on pathos-laden or emotionally impactful personal anecdotes as their source of proof that vaccines are dangerous. These sorts of descriptive and vivid personal stories from parents can act to elicit feelings of regret, fear, and anger and can thus reinforce and further ingrain an Anti-vaxxers’ feelings of mistrust towards medicine and the government (Brewer et al. 2017).

Anti-vaxxers often create online communities of other like-minded people as a way to shelter away from their feelings of fear and paranoia towards society. These online communities often fall into the trap of being “information bubbles”, meaning that they become “echo chambers” in which conspiracy theories can be passed around without ever being fact-checked or verified. Tanushree Mitra, Scott Counts, and James W. Pennebaker, the writers of “ Understanding Anti-Vaccination Attitudes in Social Media” describes Twitter and social media as “a channel often to disseminate medical information without verification by the expert medical community” (Mitra et al. 2016 pg 269). Apart from addressing the growing issue of misinformation on the internet another possible way of reducing the detrimental effect of these social media “echo chambers”, is to diversify the voices heard in these close-knit groups. Finding a way to limit the spread of misinformation not only on the internet but on social media can reduce the overall strength of the echo chamber and thus reduce the overall amount of vaccine-hesitant individuals (Mitra et al. 2016).

Government initiatives are usually centered around informing Anti-vaxxers by providing scientific reassurances from medical experts. But, these actions tend to backfire. For one, because the government is an institution that’s already generally mistrusted by the Anti-vax community, and two because even with the availability of empirical evidence, showing this to an Anti-vaxxer is not enough to change their mind. We all tend to stay in our own self affirming bubble due to a confirmation bias we all have. We have this mental heuristic that makes people want to pay selective attention to information that reinforces our own beliefs and reject information that challenges the way we think. Thus, simply showing an Anti-vaxxer facts about vaccines will not resolve any of their fears and anxieties around vaccines. This is why it can be hard to have a conversation with an Anti-vaxxer. Once someone is set on a specific way of thinking, it can be hard to change their mind unless they are willing to; this also illustrates just how detrimental our emotions (specifically fear) can be. Fear can drive us to do illogical things to protect ourselves, but can also blind us from the glaring warning signs of reason. The only way for Anti-vaxxers to see reason and escape their bubble of fear and misinformation is to be reason with them emotionally. Understanding this nuance can help individuals change the way they communicate and understand Anti-vaxxers.

Everyone has some degree of fear and hesitancy towards vaccines. With this global pandemic, there is a lot of uncertainty and a lot of confusion. Shutting people down, or mocking people who voice their concerns about vaccines can have detrimental effects. It can force them to seek consolation in private social media groups where they can openly voice their concerns, and from there as I mentioned before, they can get stuck in that self-affirming bubble of conspiracy theories, homeopathic remedies, and false news, with no alternate viewpoint to ever challenge or change them. It is more effective to have an emotive open discussion with vaccine-hesitant people (such as retelling the stories of grieving parents who regret not vaccinating their children). Doing this will hopefully allow Anti-vaxxers to see from your point of view.

Closing the gap between this dualistic debate can help unify the disparities of both parties, and create an environment where each side is willing to listen to each other. This is important because living in a highly divisive world will prevent societal change from occurring. By learning to communicate and understand each other, humanity can advance with less global conflict and misunderstandings.

Work Cited Page

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Browne, Matthew (2018) “Epistemic divides and ontological confusions: The psychology of

vaccine scepticism, Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics”, 14:10, 2540–2542, DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2018.1480244

Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., & Cichocka, A. (2017). “The Psychology of Conspiracy

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Anti-Vaxx movement” Uppsala Universitet

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