The argument of the vaccine detractors, who have come to launch campaigns to massify their position, questions the efficacy of these and warns of their dangerousness , ensuring that the damage caused by the adverse effects of immunization is greater than those caused by the infectious disease in question.
Due to the alarming numbers of measles cases in children in the United States, which tripled from 2013 to 2014, a team of psychologists from UCLA and the University of Illinois decided to take action. Thus, they have been working to find a method by which they are able to convince these people that the vaccine is not dangerous, on the contrary. Mind you, not through any path. And, according to the researchers , phrases such as “the fear of vaccines is wrong or based on misinformation”, or “measles is a terrible disease” do not help change your mind.
In their study, University of Illinois Professor of Psychology and Philosophy John Humme and his colleagues randomly divided 315 adults into three groups. Of the participants, about a third had a very favorable attitude towards vaccines, while the rest showed a certain degree of skepticism. However , all of them were equally represented in each of the three groups.
One of the groups had to read contents on Disease Control and Prevention, which highlighted the idea that children should be vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella, and highlighted the safety and efficacy of this type of vaccine. According to the psychologists’ report, this path did not change attitudes at all . Something similar happened in the second control group, who were left indifferent on the same subject before a standard reading on the feeding of the birds.
The members of the last group, on the other hand, had to read the same contents as group 1, but with some new features. The texts included photographs of children affected by such diseases, as well as the testimony of a mother about an episode of measles that threatened the life of her son: “We spent three days in the hospital for fear of losing our baby. drinking, he had an IV on, and for a few hours he seemed to be wasting away. ” This tactic did prove successful, moving many opponents to the side of vaccine supporters.
Following these enlightening results, the study authors have confirmed that convincing is not about confrontation, but about trying to reach common ground through a more realistic and humane argument. By the way, they have concluded that there are more efficient ways in this regard , such as showing videos of families and doctors who take an optimistic approach to the problem.
