ArticleHuman vaccines & immunotherapeutics2018
Epistemic divides and ontological confusions: The psychology of vaccine scepticism.
Article in Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- A taxonomy of anti-vaccination arguments from a systematic literature review and text modelling.Nature human behaviour · 2023Pooled it
- Defining Health Misinformation: Theoretical Concept Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Review
- Strategies to correct vaccine misinformation on social media for pregnant women and the impact of vaccine skepticism.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Why do older adults hesitate to get the flu vaccine? A cross-sectional study on vaccine hesitancy in the post-COVID-19 era.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- A risk science perspective on vaccines.Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis · 2024Article
- Esoteric beliefs and CAM impact SARS-CoV-2 immunization drivers, uptake and pediatric immunization views in Germany.NPJ vaccines · 2024Article
- Adapting Ourselves, Instead of the Environment: An Inquiry into Human Enhancement for Function and Beyond.Integrative psychological & behavioral science · 2024Article
- Tracking variations in daily questionable health behaviors and their psychological roots: a preregistered experience sampling study.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Endorsement of alternative medicine and vaccine hesitancy among physicians: A cross-sectional study in four European countries.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2023Article
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- Evaluation of strategies against vaccine hesitancy in the COVID-19 and Indian context-A systematic review.Journal of education and health promotion · 2023Review
- Smart Hand Sanitisers in the Workplace: A Survey of Attitudes towards an Internet of Things Technology.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Epistemologies of evidence-based medicine: a plea for corpus-based conceptual research in the medical humanities.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2021Article
- Article
- Transparent communication about negative features of COVID-19 vaccines decreases acceptance but increases trust.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Perceived COVID-19 risk is attenuated by ingroup trust: evidence from three empirical studies.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Risk, Trust, and Flawed Assumptions: Vaccine Hesitancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Frontiers in public healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Vaccine scepticism is an increasingly important barrier to optimal coverage in developed countries. In this commentary, we make the case that negative attitudes towards vaccines reflect a broader and deeper set of beliefs about health and wellbeing. We suggest that this alternative worldview is influenced by ontological confusions (e.g. regarding purity, natural energy), and knowledge based on personal lived experience and trusted peers, rather than the positivist epistemological framework. Our view is supported by recent social-psychological research, including strong correlations of vaccine scepticism with adherence to complementary and alternative medicine, magical health beliefs, and conspiracy ideation. For certain well-educated and well-resourced individuals, opposition to vaccines represents an expression of personal intuition and agency, in achieving a positive and life-affirming approach to health and wellbeing. These core beliefs are not amenable to change - and especially resistant to communications from orthodox, authoritative sources. Although this view does suggest tactical improvements to messaging, we suggest that a better long-term strategy is to combine with other disciplines in order to address the root causes of vaccine scepticism. Vaccine scepticism is unlikely to thrive in a cultural context that trusts and values the scientific consensus.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.