Trust in institutions and misinformation susceptibility both independently explain vaccine skepticism.

ABSTRACT: Herd immunity for preventable childhood infectious diseases such as measles and mumps has come under threat in numerous countries, due to declining vaccination rates. This decline underscores the urgent need to understand the underlying mechanisms of vaccine skepticism. Institutional (dis)trust and belief in (vaccine) misinformation have been proposed as important factors, but their interconnectedness and potential mutual influence have remained elusive. Importantly, higher trust has been hypothesized to serve as a "buffer" against the adverse effects of misinformation belief. In this preregistered study (N = 1356, probability sample of Dutch households), we address these questions using validated, high-quality measures of vaccine attitudes, trust, and misinformation susceptibility. We fin

SUBMITTER: Roozenbeek T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12569172 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature