This conversation with Johan Bester, director of bioethics for UNLV’s School of Medicine, got me to thinking about me policing the terms I use.
Is there a chance that those vehemently opposed to vaccinations will strengthen their resolve?
I would expect that there are some parents who would double down on their vaccine refusal, and become more entrenched in their opposition to childhood vaccines during the pandemic. The world, unfortunately, has become more polarized in recent years. As the psychologist Jonathan Haidt pointed out, people often make up their minds about controversial issues based on the tribe they belong to, and come up with justifications for their choices afterwards. The same principle is at work for many who refuse vaccines: their identity is tied up with the refusal of vaccines; being opposed to vaccines is part of who they are.
They simply don't trust information from experts, people who provide evidence in favor of vaccines. There is research that shows that some people who have very strong anti-vaccine views become even more opposed to vaccines when you provide them with evidence and facts about vaccine safety. When you present information related to vaccine science to people who have their identity wrapped up in opposition to vaccines, they experience it as a personal attack rather than a discussion on what should be done for a child.
Overall, the key is building trusting relationships. People will hear what you say if they trust you. Relationship and goodwill comes before education and communication of the scientific facts; you can’t have one without the other.
This is one reason I have such an antipathy to the moniker "anti-vaxxer.” It is not helpful to lump all vaccine-hesitant people together under a term that has taken on derogatory overtones. It polarizes the issue further, rather than seeking to build the trust and goodwill needed for people to hear what you have to say.
The reality is pretty subtle and shaded, while online conversations tend to be more polarized, I think.
Personally I've been trying to reserve the terms, "anti-vaccine", "anti-vax", and AV for those who profit or benefit from raising fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) about vaccines, and who lie repeatedly about the safety and efficacy of vaccines: the likes of Barbara Loe Fisher, Robert F. Kennedy jr., Larry Cook, Joe Mercola, Del Bigtree, Jack Wolfson, Suzanne Humphries, Sherri Tenpenny, Jacqueline "Deep Roots at Home", Bob Sears, Lawrence Palevsky,
Parents (and others) who parrot their words, without really understanding what they are saying, should be called something else.
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