Transparent communication about negative features of COVID-19 vaccines decreases acceptance but increases trust.

ABSTRACT: During the rapid development and rolling out of vaccines against COVID-19, researchers have called for an approach of "radical transparency," in which vaccine information is transparently disclosed to the public, even if negative information can decrease vaccine uptake. Consistent with theories about the psychology of conspiracy beliefs, these calls predict that a lack of transparency may reduce trust in health authorities and may facilitate the spread of conspiracy theories, which may limit the long-term capabilities of health authorities during and after the pandemic. On the basis of preregistered experiments conducted on large, representative samples of Americans and Danes (N > 13,000), the current study contrasts the effects of vague vaccine communication with transparent communication

SUBMITTER: Petersen MB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8307373 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature