Understanding and fighting the impact of conspiracy mentality – the example of vaccination

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Kai Sassenberg
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 438687673

Vaccination rates are on the decline, a trend that has coincided with the emergence of anti-vaccination conspiracy theories. The size of this relationship is striking: In Germany, approximately a quarter of the variance in anti-vaccination attitudes and intentions is explained by measuring people’s general willingness to believe conspiracies. This project sets out to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relation between conspiracy beliefs and anti-vaccination attitudes based on social psychological theorizing. The main focus will be on the role of social influence. First, it will test whether (and why) conspiracy mentality reduces the impact of norms on vaccination intentions. Second, it will test whether (and why) conspiracy mentality impedes the efficacy of pro-vaccination messages. Based on these findings, two strategies for overcoming resistance to pro-vaccination messages among those with a strong conspiracy mentality will be developed: (1) increasing trust and (2) reducing confirmatory processing. The project will combine online and lab experiments with longitudinal field studies in the general population. Overall, this project will not only provide insights relevant to vaccination but will also inform strategies to counteract conspiracy theories in different societal domains (e.g., political populism).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Australia
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Matthew Hornsey, Ph.D.