In the third episode of the “Skepsis” series, Simona-Nicoleta Vulpe, researcher of the University of Bucharest and Diana Moga, doctoral student at the Doctoral School of Sociology of UB, offer a sociological perspective on Forming attitudes of trust or mistrust in vaccination, a controversial subject of contemporary society.
What is the main opinion climate regarding vaccination?
Lately, discussions about vaccination have become increasingly controversial in many parts of the world. Some people strongly claim the importance of vaccination and consider it as the most efficient method of fighting diseases and protecting individual and collective health.
Debates on these subjects are intense in the media, in online debate circles and even in day-to-day conversations. Thus, in today’s episode of “Skepsis”, the two researchers invite us to better understand the way that people’s attitudes on vaccination form. What makes people trust vaccination? What makes people mistrust vaccination?
How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the attitude of people regarding vaccination?
The COVID-19 pandemic was a great amplifier of the mistrust and skepticism against vaccination.
Data from the 2021 Eurobarometer show an increase in the confusion and mistrust on themes related to vaccination. Using this information, in the “Skepsis” project we identified 3 zones of doubt at European level (Rughiniș et al., 2022). First is the zone of hesitant – supporters of the freedom of choice, meaning a zone of people who are hesitant about getting vaccinated and at the same time reject constrictions. Second, there is the zone of those who are undecided, neutral people, who identify both advantages and disadvantages when it comes to vaccination. The third zone belongs to those who approve of vaccination, who do not have a clear opinion on vaccination and in general agree with any information on this topic. As such, could we say that the COVID-19 pandemic has raised or, on the contrary, has lowered people’s trust in vaccination?
Episode 3 of the “Skepsis” project will offer answers to these questions and many others.
Launched in October 2023, the “SKEPSIS” series is a project addressed to the large audience, through which UB researchers analyze, from a sociology viewpoint, the scientific truth and public skepticism concerning some of the most controversial topics of the moment. The series will explore the profound structures which influence our ways of perceiving and acting, when our health, identity or future are at stake.
The materials presented in this series will include brief and dynamic presentations of certain subjects relevant for contemporary society: vaccination, global warming, artificial intelligence and others.
The format of the episodes includes the presentation of the theme, followed by a dialogue between a moderator and a guest.
The guests of this series, meant to explain the evolution of trust and skepticism regarding current subjects, are professors, doctoral students and researchers belonging to the academic community of the University of Bucharest.
The video content in this section is produced by the Communication and Public Relations Department of the University of Bucharest, and research results are part of the program “SKEPSIS – Fabricating uncertainties regarding vaccination and climate change. Comparative study of legitimacy in two counter-science narratives”, implemented by the University of Bucharest and financed by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization, Romania, PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-1589.
The video content On the formation of trust or mistrust attitudes regarding vaccination was filmed at the biochemistry lab of the UB Faculty of Chemistry.
