scholarly journals Resistance to Persuasion: Examining the Influence of Political Ideology on COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Hesitancy

2022 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy H. Brinson
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Psychological Reactance ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Mediating Effects ◽  
Individual Life ◽  
Resistance To Persuasion ◽  
Message Frames

The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the death of over 625,000 Americans and it continues to have monumental consequences worldwide for economic, social and individual life. An effective vaccine program is considered vital to securing collective immunity; yet, many Americans are still hesitant to be vaccinated. This two-part study first experimentally tests two message frames (inoculation vs control) designed to counter resistance to the COVID-19 vaccine with individuals who are initially supportive, neutral or opposed to it. Based on a key finding from Study 1 (that political ideology appears to be impacting receptiveness to the messaging), Study 2 examines response to these same two messages using either a politicized (Dr. Anthony Fauci) or neutral source to test the mediating effects of political ideology. Results contribute to existing literature by examining inoculation effects in a new context (“debunking” misinformation vs “prebunking” to bolster supportive attitudes), and demonstrate how psychological reactance is working in tandem with inoculation to influence attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine.

scholarly journals The UPTAKE study: implications for the future of COVID-19 vaccination trial recruitment in UK and beyond

Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonika Sethi ◽  
Aditi Kumar ◽  
Anandadeep Mandal ◽  
Mohammed Shaikh ◽  
Claire A. Hall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Trial Recruitment ◽  
Trial Management ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Future

Abstract Background Developing a safe and effective vaccine will be the principal way of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. However, current COVID-19 vaccination trials are not adequately representing a diverse participant population in terms of age, ethnicity and comorbidities. Achieving the representative recruitment targets that are adequately powered to the study remains one of the greatest challenges in clinical trial management. To ensure accuracy and generalisability of the safety and efficacy conclusions generated by clinical trials, it is crucial to recruit patient cohorts as representative as possible of the future target population. Missing these targets can lead to reduced validity of the study results and can often slow down drug development leading to costly delays. Objective This study explores the key factors related to perceptions and participation in vaccination trials. Methods This study involved an anonymous cross-sectional online survey circulated across the UK. Statistical analysis was done in six phases. Multi-nominal logistic models examined demographic and geographic factors that may impact vaccine uptake. Results The survey had 4884 participants of which 9.44% were Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME). Overall, 2020 (41.4%) respondents were interested in participating in vaccine trials; 27.6% of the respondents were not interested and 31.1% were unsure. The most interested groups were male (OR = 1.29), graduates (OR = 1.28), the 40–49 and 50–59 age groups (OR = 1.88 and OR = 1.46 respectively) and those with no health issues (OR = 1.06). The least interested groups were BAME (OR = 0.43), those from villages and small towns (OR = 0.66 and 0.54 respectively) and those aged 70 and above (OR = 1.11). Conclusions In order to have a vaccination that is generalisable to the entire population, greater work needs to be done in engaging a diverse cohort of participants. Public health campaigns need to be targeted in improving trial recruitment rates for the elderly, BAME community and the less educated rural population.

scholarly journals Examining the Utility of Social Media in COVID-19 Vaccination: Unsupervised Learning of 672,133 Twitter Posts (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tau Ming Liew ◽  
Cia Sin Lee
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Barriers And Facilitators ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Public Concerns

BACKGROUND Although COVID-19 vaccines have recently become available, efforts in global mass vaccination can be hampered by the widespread issue of vaccine hesitancy. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to use social media data to capture close-to-real-time public perspectives and sentiments regarding COVID-19 vaccines, with the intention to understand the key issues that have captured public attention, as well as the barriers and facilitators to successful COVID-19 vaccination. METHODS Twitter was searched for tweets related to “COVID-19” and “vaccine” over an 11-week period after November 18, 2020, following a press release regarding the first effective vaccine. An unsupervised machine learning approach (ie, structural topic modeling) was used to identify topics from tweets, with each topic further grouped into themes using manually conducted thematic analysis as well as guided by the theoretical framework of the COM-B (capability, opportunity, and motivation components of behavior) model. Sentiment analysis of the tweets was also performed using the rule-based machine learning model VADER (Valence Aware Dictionary and Sentiment Reasoner). RESULTS Tweets related to COVID-19 vaccines were posted by individuals around the world (N=672,133). Six overarching themes were identified: (1) emotional reactions related to COVID-19 vaccines (19.3%), (2) public concerns related to COVID-19 vaccines (19.6%), (3) discussions about news items related to COVID-19 vaccines (13.3%), (4) public health communications about COVID-19 vaccines (10.3%), (5) discussions about approaches to COVID-19 vaccination drives (17.1%), and (6) discussions about the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines (20.3%). Tweets with negative sentiments largely fell within the themes of emotional reactions and public concerns related to COVID-19 vaccines. Tweets related to facilitators of vaccination showed temporal variations over time, while tweets related to barriers remained largely constant throughout the study period. CONCLUSIONS The findings from this study may facilitate the formulation of comprehensive strategies to improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake; they highlight the key processes that require attention in the planning of COVID-19 vaccination and provide feedback on evolving barriers and facilitators in ongoing vaccination drives to allow for further policy tweaks. The findings also illustrate three key roles of social media in COVID-19 vaccination, as follows: surveillance and monitoring, a communication platform, and evaluation of government responses.

“It’s Global Warming, Stupid”: Aggressive Communication Styles and Political Ideology in Science Blog Debates About Climate Change

2020 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. 1003-1025
Author(s):  
Shupei Yuan ◽  
Hang Lu
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
Psychological Reactance ◽  
Communication Styles ◽  
Expectancy Violation ◽  
Important Mediator ◽  
Aggressive Communication ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Violation Of Expectation ◽  
Moderating Role

The current study examined the effects of aggressive communication styles on individuals’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions. Two underlying mechanisms—psychological reactance and expectancy violation—as well as the moderating role played by political ideology were investigated. An online experiment ( N = 423) was conducted and the results showed that more aggressive style was more likely to trigger psychological reactance and violation of expectation, liberals responded more negatively to the aggressive message than conservatives, and expectancy violation was an important mediator. The findings provide explanations for how communication styles affect individuals’ information processing and offer implications regarding selecting communication styles wisely.

scholarly journals Rather than inducing psychological reactance, requiring vaccination strengthens intentions to vaccinate in US populations

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dolores Albarracin ◽  
Haesung Jung ◽  
Wen Song ◽  
Andy Tan ◽  
Jessica Fishman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
Free Choice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Reactance ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Vaccine Mandates ◽  
Nationally Representative

AbstractIn a survey and three experiments (one preregistered with a nationally representative sample), we examined if vaccination requirements are likely to backfire, as commonly feared. We investigated if relative to encouraging free choice in vaccination, requiring a vaccine weakens or strengthens vaccination intentions, both in general and among individuals with a predisposition to experience psychological reactance. In the four studies, compared to free choice, requirements strengthened vaccination intentions across racial and ethnic groups, across studies, and across levels of trait psychological reactance. The results consistently suggest that fears of a backlash against vaccine mandates may be unfounded and that requirements will promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake in the United States.

scholarly journals Developing a Vaccine Informatics to Identify Message Frames Used in Vaccine Debates on Social Media: Combining Automatic Tweet Classification and Clustering Machine-Learning Algorithms with Qualitative Content Analysis (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Argyris ◽  
Kafui Monu ◽  
Pang-Ning Tan ◽  
Colton Aarts ◽  
Fan Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Message Framing ◽  
Machine Learning Algorithms ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Uptake Rates ◽  
Message Frames ◽  
Tweet Classification

BACKGROUND Exposure to anti-vaccine content on social media has been associated with delays and refusals of vaccinations, while pro-vaccine campaigns devised to disseminate the preventive benefits of vaccines have not succeeded in increasing vaccine uptake rates. Reasons remain unknown why anti-vaccine messaging hampers uptake while pro-vaccine campaigns do not improve it. OBJECTIVE We aim to identify reasons for the disparate effectiveness of anti- versus pro-vaccine social media content on vaccine delivery rates. In so doing, we apply the perspectives of message framing used in interpersonal health communication to explain why individuals refuse to adopt preventive behaviors. Specifically, we compare (1) the diversity, coherence, and distinctiveness of topics discussed by pro- and anti-vaccine communities and (2) message frames used to portray vaccines as a public health accomplishment or harmful agents. METHODS We developed a multimethod that combines the collection of a large amount of data from Twitter (~40,000 tweets), an automatic tweet classification algorithm, the K-means clustering algorithm, and a qualitative content analysis. RESULTS Our results show a larger number of topics (20 versus 17 clusters), greater coherence of topics (0.99 vs. 0.97) and distinctiveness of topics (1.22 vs. 1.31) among anti-vaccinists in comparison to pro-vaccinists. In addition, while anti-vaccinists use all four message frames known to make narratives persuasive and influential, pro-vaccinists neglect the problem statement. CONCLUSIONS Based on our results, we attribute the diversity, coherence, and distinctiveness of topics discussed among anti-vaccinists to their higher engagement, and we ascribe the influence of vaccine debate on uptake rates to the comprehensiveness of the message frames. These results show the urgency of developing value propositions for vaccines to counteract the negative impact of anti-vaccine content on the uptake rates. CLINICALTRIAL This study was determined to be a non-human subject study by Michigan State University’s Institutional Review Board (#STUDY00004514).

scholarly journals 569. Characterization of COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Infections in Metropolitan Detroit

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S386-S386
Author(s):  
Nicholas sturla ◽  
Rita Kassab ◽  
Rafa Khansa ◽  
Thomas Chevalier ◽  
David Allard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Breakthrough Infection ◽  
Respiratory Sample ◽  
Asymptomatic Patients ◽  
The Status ◽  
Henry Ford ◽  
Heart Failure Exacerbation

Abstract Background Although COVID-19 vaccines are very effective, vaccine breakthrough infections have been reported, albeit rarely. When they do occur, people generally have milder COVID-19 illness compared to unvaccinated people. A total of 10,262 (0.01%) SARS-CoV-2 vaccine breakthrough infections had been reported as of April 30, 2021. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and characterize breakthrough infections in our patient population. Methods This was a retrospective review of all consecutive COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections at Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, from December 17, 2020 to June 7, 2021. Centers for Disease Control (CDC)'s breakthrough infection definition (detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA or antigen in a respiratory sample ≥14 days after completion all recommended doses of COVID-19 vaccine) was used to identify cases. Vaccination status was extracted from the electronic medical records using Epic™ SlicerDicer. Results A total of 228,674 patients, including healthcare workers (HCW), were fully vaccinated in our healthcare system. We evaluate 299 patients for breakthrough infection but only 179 (0.08%) patients met the definition; 108 (60%) were female with median age of 59, 60 (33%) were HCW, and 11 (6%) were immunocompromised. The majority (92%) were asymptomatic (62 or 35%) or had mild/moderate illness (102 or 57%); 14 (8%) had severe or critical illness. The status of one patient was unknown. Of those who were symptomatic, 24 (13%) required hospitalization, and 3 (2%) required intensive unit care. One patient admitted for heart failure exacerbation died unexpectedly prior to being discharged. Nine had previous COVID-19 within 4 months but only one was symptomatic; this likely represented residual shedding in the asymptomatic patients. Conclusion COVID-19 vaccine was very effective among our patients and breakthrough infections were rare. Moreover, the vaccine reduced disease severity and mortality. Efforts should aim to increase vaccine uptake. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

scholarly journals The UPTAKE healStudy: Implications for the Future of COVID-19 Vaccination Trial Recruitment in UK and Beyond

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonika Sethi ◽  
Aditi Kumar ◽  
Anandadeep Mandal ◽  
Mohammed Shaikh ◽  
Claire Anne Hall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Logistic Models ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Trial Recruitment ◽  
Trial Management ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Future

Abstract Background: Developing a safe and effective vaccine will be the principal way of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. However, current COVID-19 vaccination trials are not adequately representing a diverse participant population in terms of age, ethnicity and comorbidities. Achieving the representative recruitment targets that are adequately powered to the study remains one of the greatest challenges in clinical trial management. To ensure accuracy and generalizability of the safety and efficacy conclusions generated by clinical trials, it is crucial to recruit patient cohorts as representative as possible of the future target population. Missing these targets can lead to reduced validity of the study results, and can often slow down drug development leading to costly delays. This study explores the key factors related to perceptions and participation in vaccination trials. Methods: This study involved an anonymous cross-sectional online survey circulated across the UK. Statistical analysis was done in six phases. Multi-nominal logistic models examined demographic and geographic factors that may impact vaccine uptake. Results: The survey had 4884 participants of which 9·44% were BAME (Black Asian Minority Ethnic). Overall 2020 (41.4%) respondents were interested in participating in vaccine trials; 27.6% of the respondents were not interested and 31.1.% were unsure. The most interested groups were male (OR=1.290), graduates (OR=1.277), the 40-49 and 50-59 age group (OR=1.880 and OR=1.460 respectively) and those with no health issues (OR=1.064). The least interested groups were BAME (OR=0.427), those from villages and small towns (OR=0.66 and 0.54 respectively), and those aged 70 and above (OR=1.11).Conclusions: In order to have a vaccination that is generalizable to the entire population, greater work needs to be done in engaging a diverse cohort of participants. Public health campaigns need to be targeted in improving trial recruitment rates for the elderly, BAME community and the less educated rural population.

Mining Trends of COVID-19 Vaccine Beliefs on Twitter with Lexical Embeddings (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harshita Chopra ◽  
Aniket Vashishtha ◽  
Ridam Pal ◽  
Ashima Garg ◽  
Ananya Tyagi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Influencing Factors ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Longitudinal Change ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Detection Algorithms ◽  
Lexical Categories ◽  
Correlation Networks ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Health Related

BACKGROUND Social media plays a pivotal role in disseminating news globally and acts as a platform for people to express their opinions on various topics. A wide variety of views accompanies COVID-19 vaccination drives across the globe, often colored by emotions, which change along with rising cases, approval of vaccines, and multiple factors discussed online. OBJECTIVE This study aims at analyzing the temporal evolution of different emotions and the related influencing factors in tweets belonging to five countries with vital vaccine roll-out programs, namely, India, United States of America(USA), Brazil, United Kingdom(UK), and Australia. METHODS We extracted a corpus of nearly 1.8 million Twitter posts related to COVID-19 vaccination and created two classes of lexical categories – Emotions and Influencing factors. Using cosine distance from selected seed words’ embeddings, we expanded the vocabulary of each category and tracked the longitudinal change in their strength from June 2020 to April 2021 in each country. Community detection algorithms were used to find modules in positive correlation networks. RESULTS Our findings indicated the varying relationship among Emotions and Influencing Factors across countries. Tweets expressing hesitancy towards vaccines contained the highest mentions of health-related effects in all countries. We also observed a significant change in the linear trends of categories like hesitation and contentment before and after approval of vaccines. Negative emotions like rage and sorrow gained the highest importance in the alluvial diagram and formed a significant module with all the influencing factors in April 2021, when India observed the second wave of COVID-19 cases. CONCLUSIONS By extracting and visualizing these, we propose that such a framework may help guide the design of effective vaccine campaigns and be used by policymakers to model vaccine uptake and targeted interventions.

Psychological Processes Mediating Persuasion-Inhibiting Effect of Forewarning in Fear-Arousing Communication

1986 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiromi Fukada
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Psychological Reactance ◽  
Psychological Processes ◽  
Inhibiting Effect ◽  
Resistance To Persuasion

The present study was designed to investigate the mechanism mediating the persuasion-inhibiting effect of a forewarning in a fear-arousing communication. 93 college students were either warned or not warned of the communicator's persuasive and fear-arousing intents. Results showed that the forewarning produced resistance to persuasion and that resistance was mediated directly by counterarguments during the presentation of the communication, and indirectly by psychological reactance in the postwarning, precommunication interval.

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