Understanding and fighting the impact of conspiracy mentality – the example of vaccination

疫苗接种率正在下降，这一趋势恰逢反疫苗阴谋论的出现。这种关系的规模是惊人的：在德国，大约四分之一的反疫苗态度和意图的差异可以通过测量人们相信阴谋的普遍意愿来解释。该项目旨在提高我们对基于社会心理学理论的阴谋信念和反疫苗态度之间关系的机制的理解。重点将放在社会影响的作用上。首先，它将测试阴谋心态是否（以及为什么）会降低规范对疫苗接种意图的影响。其次，它将检验阴谋心态是否（以及为什么）阻碍了支持接种疫苗信息的有效性。基于这些发现，将制定两种策略来克服具有强烈阴谋心理的人对支持疫苗接种信息的抵制：(1)增加信任；(2)减少确认性处理。该项目将把在线和实验室实验与对一般人群的纵向实地研究结合起来。总体而言，该项目不仅将提供与疫苗接种相关的见解，还将为在不同社会领域（例如，政治民粹主义）抵制阴谋论的策略提供信息。

Vaccination rates are on the decline, a trend that has coincided with the emergence of anti-vaccination conspiracy theories. The size of this relationship is striking: In Germany, approximately a quarter of the variance in anti-vaccination attitudes and intentions is explained by measuring people’s general willingness to believe conspiracies. This project sets out to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relation between conspiracy beliefs and anti-vaccination attitudes based on social psychological theorizing. The main focus will be on the role of social influence. First, it will test whether (and why) conspiracy mentality reduces the impact of norms on vaccination intentions. Second, it will test whether (and why) conspiracy mentality impedes the efficacy of pro-vaccination messages. Based on these findings, two strategies for overcoming resistance to pro-vaccination messages among those with a strong conspiracy mentality will be developed: (1) increasing trust and (2) reducing confirmatory processing. The project will combine online and lab experiments with longitudinal field studies in the general population. Overall, this project will not only provide insights relevant to vaccination but will also inform strategies to counteract conspiracy theories in different societal domains (e.g., political populism).