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When it comes to vaccines - why are people talking about 'Do your own research' ?

Only one's personal research is to be trusted; listening to experts is for lazy people

One of the strongest predictors of vaccine hesitancy is people’s general mistrust of authorities and those perceived as working for them.

The distrust is often expressed in claims about vested interests, or it reveals itself as a lack of knowledge about vaccinations.

It can be directed towards different targets, for example:

  • Health and medical professionals and organisations.
  • Pharmaceutical companies.
  • Governments.
  • Scientists.
  • The ‘medical establishment’.

It can also be directed towards the scientific process and to vaccines themselves.

Although distrust is related to conspiracist beliefs, arguments framed within this attitude root are distinct in that the reasons for distrust may be due to a person’s lived experience (e.g., having experienced discrimination in the healthcare system). Arguments stemming from distrust also need not relate to conspiracies. Instead, distrust often manifests as vague statements, full of suspicion and uncertainty, with conclusions drawn based on the source of the message.

This theme discusses the need to be sceptical and ‘find out for yourself’ instead of trusting the words of doctors, scientists, the government and others, who are perceived as only giving biased information.

Some people may think of themselves as being exceptional or special, and that they therefore have to do their own research to make a personal decision.

The theme characterises people who don’t do their own research but listen to these authorities as lazy and uninformed.

Is there any truth in it?

Everyone should indeed have the autonomy to inform their medical decisions with the best evidence available. This means empowering yourself with the knowledge of what is good evidence, for example drawing from multiple independent sources. Current medical practice is open to patients and their families actively participating in decision-making, which is important to ensure informed consent and achieve greater engagement with treatments.

What could I say to someone fixed on this belief?

Dialogue between patients and healthcare professionals is most productive if it is guided by empathy, and an opportunity for the patient to affirm the reasons underlying their attitudes and to express understanding for that. That’s why it is important to understand the attitude roots behind people’s overt opinions. To affirm a person’s underlying attitude root does not mean we need to agree with the specifics of their argument. For example, we can acknowledge that:

Everyone should indeed have the autonomy to inform their medical decisions with the best evidence available. This means empowering yourself with the knowledge of what is good evidence, for example drawing from multiple independent sources. Current medical practice is open to patients and their families actively participating in decision-making, which is important to ensure informed consent and achieve greater engagement with treatments.



Having set the stage through this (partial) affirmation, we can then proceed to correct the patient’s particular misconception.

Experts reach their decisions based on critical analysis of evidence.

To empower ourselves with reliable knowledge, we also need to critically evaluate the information we come across, avoid sources that are intentionally trying to mislead us, and be aware of our own biases and knowledge gaps.

Medicine is such a complex field of knowledge that even professional scientific researchers have to work in large groups so each member can contribute their specific knowledge and skills. Information that is the product of this collective analysis is therefore one of the most reliable sources on which we can base our personal research.

It is sensible and smart to put more weight on these sources when making decisions about vaccination.

Where can I find out more?

Additional information: 

Academic references:

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MISINFORMATION & DISTRUST

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. The distrust is often expressed in claims about vested interests or a lack of knowledge about vaccinations. It can be directed towards different targets, for example, health and medical authorities or professionals, pharmaceutical companies, the government, and the scientific process and vaccines themselves.

 

Although distrust is related to conspiracist ideation, arguments framed within this attitude root are distinct in that the reasons for distrust may be due to a person’s lived experience (e.g., having experienced discrimination in the healthcare system). Arguments stemming from distrust also need not relate to conspiracies. Instead, distrust often manifests as vague statements, full of suspicion and uncertainty, with conclusions drawn based on the source of the message.