Highlighting Consensus Among Medical Scientists Increases Public Support For Vaccines: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment

Dec 3, 2015 | All Categories, Journal Articles

A substantial minority of American adults continue to hold influential misperceptions about childhood vaccine safety. Growing public concern and refusal to vaccinate poses a serious public health risk. Evaluations of recent pro-vaccine health communication interventions have revealed mixed results (at best). This study investigated whether highlighting consensus among medical scientists about childhood vaccine safety can lower public concern, reduce key misperceptions about the discredited autism-vaccine link and promote overall support for vaccines. Download the Article Here.