Researchers at USC have looked into why so many people across California and the country are refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Emotional reactions based on political beliefs are often behind the decision to avoid getting the jab, according to cognitive neuroscientist and associate professor of research at USC Dornsife’s Brain and Creativity Institute Jonas Kaplan.
“Emotion feeling is really important here. It feels bad to have our strong beliefs challenged. We don’t like it and, therefore, we are motivated to do anything we can to lessen those negative feelings, including just getting away from the information or arguing against it,” said Kaplan.
“We’re finding ways so we don’t have to accept it.”
Kaplan added that incorrect information on the Internet plays a big role in allowing individuals to spread misinformation.
“It’s basically a misinformation pandemic right now. It’s everywhere. It spreads really easily. It spreads through our social networks, and social networks are one of the main ways we get out information nowadays,” he said.
The latest national figures show only around 53 percent of adults are fully vaccinated. While in Los Angeles County, 62 percent of residents age 12 and older are fully vaccinated.
Another USC researcher pointed to lotteries as an effective method to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations.
“Some vaccine-hesitant individuals are worried about the small chance of a bad outcome. We call this ‘overweighting of small probabilities,'" said Jason Doctor, the co-director of the Behavioral Sciences Program at the USC Schaeffer Center, in a statement.
"For these individuals, why not focus their attention on the small probability of a good outcome — like winning the lottery? Then, hopefully, vaccines will prevail for these folks.”
According to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California’s Vax for the Win lottery and other state incentives seemed to encourage residents to get vaccinated.