 •"Vaccines given to children for diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella can cause neurological disorders like autism."

 • "Vaccines in general are full of toxins and harmful ingredients like “antifreeze.”

 •"It makes no difference if parents choose to delay or spread out vaccines instead of relying on the official CDC vaccine schedule. "

 • "It is better to develop natural immunity by getting the disease than by receiving the vaccine."

Common Claims of the Anti-Vaccination Movement Used to Measure Vaccine Misinformation

• Random sample of 2,500 US adults from a national panel
• Vaccination misinformation measured two times over a period of six months in 2019
• Media preference was self-reported
• Self-reported exposure to MMR vaccination content on traditional media or social media

University of California, Berkeley

Google

 • How do traditional media users and social media users in the US differ in their belief in vaccine misinformation?

• How does the acceptance or rejection of common vaccine misinformation relate to the trust an individual has in medical experts/expertise?


Questions of Research (type of media used and trust in medical expertise)


Stecula, Dominik Andrzej, et al. “How Trust in Experts and Media Use Affect Acceptance of Common Anti-Vaccination Claims: HKS Misinformation Review.” Misinformation Review, 29 Jan. 2021, https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/users-of-social-media-more-likely-to-be-misinformed-about-vaccines/. 

How Trust in Experts and Media Use Affect Acceptance of Common Anti-Vaccination Claims


 • Surveys conducted in the US during a measles outbreak imply that traditional media users are less likely to be misinformed about vaccines than social media users. 

 • “ consequential number” of US adults are misinformed about vaccines.

 • Results also show that distrust of medical authorities is positively related to vaccine misinformation.

 • Consistent results across varied demographic groups and political beliefs.

 • False beliefs were highly persistent over a five months period.


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