Browse By Attitude root

There are 11 common attitude roots that misinformed arguments can be categorised within. Select an attitude root below to learn more and to browse themes.  

Conspiracist Ideation

It's a conspiracy!

In general, conspiracy theories tend to become more prominent when people feel threatened or fear a loss of control, because the theories allow people to cope with threatening events by focusing blame on a set of presumed conspirators....

View Attitude Root

Distrust

I don't trust it!

One of the strongest predictors of vaccine hesitancy is people’s general mistrust of authorities, pharmaceutical companies, scientists, the medical “establishment”, and scientific research methods and findings...

View Attitude Root

Religious Concerns

It’s a sin!

No major faith explicitly opposes vaccinations. On the contrary, all major faiths in the U.K. have urged their followers to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Nonetheless, several concerns about vaccinations have been identified that arise from religious considerations. These concerns can be divided into four groups....

View Attitude Root

Worldview And Politics

It’s not how I see things!

Political leanings are a known driver of people’s attitudes towards scientific findings that are politically charged. A large body of research has established that people with right-wing political views are presently more likely to reject scientific findings than people on the left. This association varies in magnitude from small to substantial depending on the domain....

View Attitude Root

Unwarranted Beliefs

There are better ways!

Some people will reject vaccinations based on unwarranted beliefs, for example the claim that the body has a “natural healing potential” or that “natural” is always better, which may lead people to believe that suffering a “natural” disease in order to achieve subsequent immunity is preferable to being vaccinated...

View Attitude Root

Fear And Phobias

It's frightening!

Vaccination fears, which tend to be disproportionate to actual risks, are usually of two types. One type involves fears related to suffering side effects, whether plausible or implausible, such as autism, cancer, autoimmune diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders or even death...

View Attitude Root

Moral Concerns

It’s immoral!

Some people may feel that vaccines are contrary to their moral stance. This is likely when individuals perceive vaccinations as promoting immoral behaviour or as being developed using immoral means. Several studies have found that moral values play a role in vaccine opposition....

View Attitude Root

Reactance

It’s my choice!

Reactance is a well-known psychological construct which describes an individual's tendency to defend their autonomy when they perceive that others are trying to impose their will on them. Individuals considered to have high reactance may respond to any health advice as an infringement on their ability to choose an action for themselves. High reactance has been consistently associated with vaccine hesitancy...

View Attitude Root

Distorted Risk Perception

It's not worth it!

People often have a distorted perception of the risk from a disease, either to themselves or to others. Specifically, people may perceive that a disease is of low or inconsequential risk, and this motivates their belief that vaccination is unnecessary or that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits...

View Attitude Root

Perceived Self-Interest

It’s for others!

Getting vaccinated is a prosocial act because it offers protection not only to the person who is vaccinated, but also to the community as a whole because every vaccination contributes to herd immunity. However, if nearly everyone gets vaccinated so that herd immunity is achieved, then it is possible for an individual to decide against vaccination and to “free ride” on others in the community who are vaccinated...

View Attitude Root

Epistemic Relativism

It’s not my truth!

Epistemic relativism is a philosophical view which holds that scientific “facts” are products of social conventions and frameworks of assessment (e.g., historical contexts, social and cultural norms, and individual standards). According to strict relativists, there can be no framework-independent point of view from which we can obtain objective knowledge...

View Attitude Root