Board index › Topical Discussion › Politics, Philosophy, and Religion

The psychology of anti-vaxxers

Page 1 of 1 [ 9 posts ] 

Previous topic | Next topic

ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 38,085
Location: Long Island, New York

14 Dec 2020, 6:25 am

https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/clinical-services/news/the-psychology-of-anti-vaxxers-1104287281#axzz6gb25RQFw

Quote:
Psychologists have shed light on why seemingly intelligent people ignore the evidence base supporting vaccines and label them unsafe, despite having little to no expertise on scientific methodology.

They believe anti-vaxxers may be falling prey to a cognitive bias known as the Dunning Kruger effect, in which people overestimate their knowledge about a subject and underestimate how much they don’t know.

The Dunning–Kruger effect — often referred to as ‘ignorance of one’s own ignorance’ — is a well-documented bias that has been known to psychologists since 1999.

David Dunning, psychology professor at the University of Michigan — who coined the term — said the effect is harmful, because people are often oblivious to its impact on their own thinking.

“The first rule of the Dunning–Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning–Kruger club,” he said in a Vox interview.
Indeed, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Utah Valley University and Texas A&M University recently led a study into the psychology of anti-vaxxers. They found evidence that the Dunning–Kruger effect plays a key role in widely held beliefs about vaccinations — specifically the false claim that MMR jabs cause autism.

Testing 1300 people, they found that 62% of those that performed the worst on autism knowledge tests rated themselves as knowing ‘as much’ or ‘more’ than doctors about the causes of autism.

Professor Matthew Hornsey of the University of Queensland — well known for his research on anti-vaxxers — said that conspiracy theories are also to blame.
However, conspirational thinking has also been linked to illogical reasoning and cognitive bias — namely, the ‘conjunction fallacy’.

The conjunction fallacy is where people rate a specific outcome (eg, it will rain tomorrow) as more probable than a general outcome (eg, it will be bad weather tomorrow) — even though the broadness of the second statement makes it more likely.

The solution, researchers say, is to summon social influencers to promote vaccines. Studies show that people who think they know more than medical experts about medical conditions are more likely to trust non-expert sources, like celebrities.


_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 6 May 2008
Gender: Male
Posts: 60,939
Location:      

14 Dec 2020, 9:58 am

The same concept could be applicable to every other conspiracy theory out there -- the Apollo Moon landing "Hoax", Bigfoot "sightings", the 2020 election "Fraud", et cetera...



roronoa79
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Jan 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,417
Location: Indiana

14 Dec 2020, 9:59 am

Like many other conspiracy theories, part of it seems to come down to a sort of misguided, contrarian individualism. Most of us want to have a unique, nuanced perspective of the world, and this usually involves going against some aspects of social or scientific orthodoxy. There's nothing wrong with this--most conventions need to be questioned in some way--but questioning accepted science without doing real research and taking into account one's own confirmation bias is how we end up with anti-vaxxers, climate science deniers, and flat-earthers.
This can also easily lead to more dangerous conspiracy theories, because science denial is often built on a belief that some shadowy force (Jews, freemasons, lizard people, Marxists, illuminati, aliens, hollywood child molesters, etc) is corrupting scientific discourse. Which leads the paranoid conspiracy theorist to ask "What else is just lies being pushed by [bogeyman]?"


_________________
Diagnoses: AS, Depression, General & Social Anxiety
I guess I just wasn't made for these times.
- Brian Wilson

Δυνατὰ δὲ οἱ προύχοντες πράσσουσι καὶ οἱ ἀσθενεῖς ξυγχωροῦσιν.
Those with power do what their power permits, and the weak can only acquiesce.
- Thucydides

Conservatism discourages thought, discussion, consensus, empathy, and hope.


kitesandtrainsandcats
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2016
Age: 62
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,965
Location: Missouri

14 Dec 2020, 10:30 am

Re: "They believe anti-vaxxers may be falling prey to ..." , belief isn't science, it's religion: if you actually are doing science as you claim then tell what you know or what you do not know, keep your religion to yourself.


_________________
"There are a thousand things that can happen when you go light a rocket engine, and only one of them is good."
Tom Mueller of SpaceX, in Air and Space, Jan. 2011


Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 6 May 2008
Gender: Male
Posts: 60,939
Location:      

14 Dec 2020, 10:39 am

kitesandtrainsandcats wrote:
Re: "They believe anti-vaxxers may be falling prey to ..." , belief isn't science, it's religion: if you actually are doing science as you claim then tell what you know or what you do not know, keep your religion to yourself.
When it comes to science, "Belief" is a strong indicator of validity, while religious "Faith" proves nothing.

I would rather trust one scientist's beliefs that all of the faith of all of the religions put together.



kitesandtrainsandcats
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2016
Age: 62
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,965
Location: Missouri

14 Dec 2020, 10:41 am

Again, look at that, "They believe anti-vaxxers may be falling prey to ..."
'believe', 'may be'
The "Scientists" Do Not Know, they are guessing.

Note that although I am not part of the antivaxxer camp I am going to judge this article to be opinion and not science.


_________________
"There are a thousand things that can happen when you go light a rocket engine, and only one of them is good."
Tom Mueller of SpaceX, in Air and Space, Jan. 2011


Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 6 May 2008
Gender: Male
Posts: 60,939
Location:      

14 Dec 2020, 10:56 am

kitesandtrainsandcats wrote:
Again, look at that, "They believe anti-vaxxers may be falling prey to ..."
'believe', 'may be'
The "Scientists" Do Not Know, they are guessing.

Note that although I am not part of the antivaxxer camp I am going to judge this article to be opinion and not science.
The opinion of a scientist carries far more weight than the alleged "facts" of the anti-vaxxer camp, and mostly due to the actual hands-on research performed by scientists; whereas anti-vaxxers' "research" is essentially non-existent and has been thoroughly debunked.

Other scientific opinions that may interest you:

• Scientists believe that apes, humans, and monkeys evolved from the same ancestral species that once existed many millions of years ago.
• Scientists believe that electricity and magnetism are closely related, and that they may even be aspects of the same underlying force.
• Scientists believe that matter and energy have equivalence, according to the formula E=mc².
• Scientists believe that the lack of oxygen can cause brain death in five to ten minutes.
• Scientists believe that microbial life can cause infections and diseases.
• Scientists believe that complex organisms can develop immunity to disease microbes.
• Scientists believe that vaccinations can stimulate the immune response.

As for "Faith":

• Religionists believe that "Thoughts & Prayers" are an effective tool against communicable disease, mental illness, the threat of war, economic disaster, poverty, and homelessness.
• Religionists believe that saying, "Be of good cheer" and "Have a nice day" are effective tools against any form of depression.
• Religionists believe that a collection of poems, songs, and stories passed down by word-of-mouth from Bronze Age nomadic tribesmen accurately depicts the creation of the universe.
• Religionists believe that autism can be exorcised from (or beaten out of) an autistic person.
• Religionists believe that compounds of the element mercury are used in all injections.
• Religionists believe that vaccines are produced by processing aborted fetuses.
• Religionists believe that receiving a vaccination damns the recipient to eternity in Hell.

Do you see the difference?



SpiceWolf
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jun 2008
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Posts: 802

14 Dec 2020, 1:16 pm

Funny, as a Nurse I'm usually in the pro-vaccine camp.

A vaccine is a tool, like any tool it can be helpful, or unsafe.

The reason I'm wary of this crop of vaccines is because of what I DO know, not what I don't know.

I remember a previous "wonder drug" Thalidomide, that was also waved through safety studies due to political pressure..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide

And previous vaccines
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pandemri ... _n_2525192

I know that the normal length of time to develop a vaccine is far longer.
https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/here ... 19-vaccine

I know that the vaccines were hand-waved past important animal studies.
https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus ... sting.html

I know that the manufacturers demanded and received immunity from damages if the vaccines prove defective or harmful.
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/n ... 579150.htm
https://theintercept.com/2020/08/28/cor ... -prep-act/
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-astra ... KKCN24V2EN

I know that inspite of this waiver of liability, Moderna still wants to charge a high price for their vaccine.
(All the money, but someone else picking up the risk, nice work if you can get it I suppose).

And I know that Big Pharma is not above marketing dangerous products if they feel secure from legal liability for it.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bayer-sold-hiv-risky-meds/

I know from general experience that the research teams would be put under a lot of pressure because the first company to market wins big.

I know that the infection survival rate for people in my age range is close to 100%
https://www.acsh.org/news/2020/11/18/co ... -age-15163
Therefore the vaccine offers vanishingly little benefit to me, and an unknown amount of risk.

I'm not utterly opposed to the vaccine either if you're over 80, you could make a strong argument that the potential benefits to you outweigh the unknown risk to you.
And if someone who has been properly informed wants to take it, I'm not going to stop them.

But I think the mass deployment of a highly experimental vaccine with unmapped long term side effects is an irresponsible and hysterical decision.



Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 6 May 2008
Gender: Male
Posts: 60,939
Location:      

14 Dec 2020, 1:38 pm

Then maybe it is a good thing that most of us will not be offered a vaccine until late winter or early spring.  That way, we can all see how effective or dangerous the vaccines really are before we have a chance to receive one.