The results of a study carried out at the Center for Research and Social Intervention (CIS-Iscte) indicate that people who considered the Portuguese government's communication on COVID-19 to be of superior quality (i.e., clear, consistent and science-based) ) were less likely to believe conspiracy theories and, in turn, more likely to accept and receive COVID-19 vaccines.
According to Melanie Vauclair, researcher at CIS-Iscte and first author of this study, “many studies have positively associated acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine with different variables, such as a higher level of education or a higher socioeconomic status”.
More importantly, the researcher adds that "vaccination hesitancy has been linked to beliefs in conspiracy theories and a lack of trust in governments and institutions."
Extending existing research, Melanie Vauclair and Elena Piccinelli, PhD student at Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, explored the critical role of perceptions of government communication about the COVID-19 pandemic in predicting vaccine acceptance and whether this link could be explained. beliefs in conspiracy theories and trust in government.
377 participants from Portugal answered questionnaires about their general acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines, their acceptance of a vaccine developed in China (Sinovac), their beliefs in conspiracy theories about COVID-19, their trust in Portuguese and Chinese governments, their perception of the quality of COVID-19 communication by the Portuguese government, and their stereotypes about Chinese people. Various socio-demographic data were also collected.
After controlling for relevant factors, namely sociodemographics and fear of COVID-19, the results of this study show that a greater perception of the quality of communication predicted greater trust in the Portuguese government and general acceptance of the vaccine.
In other words, people who considered the Portuguese government's communication about COVID-19 to be clear, consistent and based on science were less likely to believe conspiracy theories and, in turn, were more likely to accept vaccines.
However, contrary to what the authors expected, belief in conspiracy theories was not related to trust in government, which was also not associated with general acceptance of vaccines.
Elena Piccinelli explains the impact of these results: “Governments that invest in clear and coherent communication about the pandemic may be able to counteract the wave of beliefs in conspiracy theories, which, in turn, may help to increase the acceptance of vaccines. ”.
In addition, individuals who held more stereotypes about Chinese people were more likely to believe in conspiracy theories about Covid-19 and, in turn, were less trusting of the Chinese government, being less willing to accept the Sinovac vaccine. “Our study suggests that stereotypes about nationality could fuel conspiracy theories,” says Elena.
The researcher also explains that “considering the role of different sociopsychological variables is important for vaccine acceptance”, but notes that such influences should be examined experimentally in future investigations.
The study was carried out in Portugal between March and April 2021, during a confinement, in which people relied mainly on the news to learn more about the pandemic and government actions.
The authors reflect that “in retrospect, Portugal is in a better position than many other member states of the European Union, and the question arises whether the findings can inform governance in other countries”.
According to the website ourworlddata.org, Portugal has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world and the highest in Europe.
Author Pedro Simão Mendes CIS-Iscte
Comments