Echo Chambers in a Closed Community: Vaccine Uptake and Perceived Effectiveness among the Amish and Old Order Mennonites

Stein, Rachel E.; Corcoran, Katie E.; Colyer, Corey J.; DiGregorio, Bernard D.

doi:10.1080/00380253.2022.2053315

Cited by 5 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…The data used in this study provide an unparalleled lens into the lives of the Amish and Mennonites during the COVID-19 pandemic. More research is needed on how members of these communities cope with the pandemic, given limited opportunities for interaction (DiGregorio et al, 2021 ) and how they adapt to the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine (Scott et al, 2021 ; Stein et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Christian nationalists (i.e., those who ascribe to a politically infused conservative religious ideology) were particularly resistant to COVID-19 mandates viewing them as contrary to economic prosperity and liberty (Perry et al, 2020a , 2020b ). This resistance was likely also rooted in cultural distrust of medicine, the government, and science (Armer & Radina, 2006 ; Baker et al, 2020 ; Galanter, 1999 ; Gastañaduy et al, 2016 ; Glassman, 2018 ; Gonzalez et al, 2021 ; Hill et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Miller & Karkazis, 2013 ; Offit, 2015 ; Stein et al, 2022 ; Thompson & Kisjes, 2016 ; Whitehead & Perry, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rituals of Contagion in Closed Religious Communities: A Case Study of Amish and Mennonite Communities in the USA During the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2022

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At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, government and medical guidelines emphasized social distancing to limit exposure. These guidelines significantly impacted closed religious communities, particularly those opposed to modern technologies, such as Amish and Mennonite communities. How did these religious communities respond to COVID-19 policies in the USA? We draw data from Ohio and Pennsylvania scribe entries published in an Amish/Mennonite correspondence newspaper. While some of these communities altered church rituals to comply with government directives, others maintained communal worship without disruption. Mennonite communities were more likely to conform to guidelines.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rituals of Contagion in Closed Religious Communities: A Case Study of Amish and Mennonite Communities in the USA During the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2022

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“…McKune's source files include plain ASCII text extractions from the directory pages and spreadsheets organized into church districts, which allow us to identify their affiliation. 5 Following the analyses of Kraybill (1994) and Hurst and McConnell (2010), we use affiliation as a proxy for orthodoxy or strictness (see also Stein et al, 2022). The 2020 Ohio Amish directory (Wengerd, 2020) classifies each church district into one of three categories: New Order, Old Order, and Andy Weaver or Dan.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Swartzentruber churches do not provide data to the enumerators or participate in the directory process. We presume that New Order churches are the least strict while Andy Weaver churches are the most orthodox in a rough typology (Stein et al, 2022). Since the 2020 data are not available in digital form, we used the 2020 directory to identify the affiliation of districts.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Amish Population Pyramids: Demographic Patterns across Affiliations in the Holmes County, Ohio, Settlement

Colyer

Stein²,

Corcoran³

et al. 2022

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Research indicates demographic trends within the Amish community remain stable over time, even as Amish populations proliferate. However, most of the research on demographic trends fails to examine variation across affiliations. We use data from Ohio Amish Directory, Holmes County and Vicinity, 2010 to construct age-sex population pyramids for three different affiliations. Population pyramids render the growth, decline, and stability of populations visible. Andy Weaver (or Dan) and Old Order churches present expanding pyramids implying rapid growth, while New Order churches render a stationary pyramid indicating slower growth. Sociologists of religion consistently find that strict churches, cultivating separation from the outside world, tend to grow faster than those that foster accommodation with the outside world. We argue that the data presented in this article suggests a similar dynamic at work in Plain Anabaptist communities.

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Pathways to Immunity: Patterns of Excess Death Across the United States and Within Closed Religious Communities

et al. 2023

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Public health officials promoted COVID-19 vaccines to limit burdens placed on the U.S. healthcare system and end the pandemic. People in some closed religious communities refused to vaccinate and likely acquired temporary immunity through infection. This paper compares the death rates in Amish, Old Order Mennonites, and conservative Mennonite groups to a rate estimated for the U.S. population. Approximately two-thirds of the U.S. population was immunized against COVID-19, while few in the Amish/Mennonite community were. We find divergent patterns. Once vaccines became available, excess deaths declined in the general population and remained elevated among Amish and Mennonites. Vaccination campaigns must consider and value the cultural beliefs of closed religious communities to be effective.

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Echo Chambers in a Closed Community: Vaccine Uptake and Perceived Effectiveness among the Amish and Old Order Mennonites

Cited by 5 publications

References 99 publications

Rituals of Contagion in Closed Religious Communities: A Case Study of Amish and Mennonite Communities in the USA During the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Rituals of Contagion in Closed Religious Communities: A Case Study of Amish and Mennonite Communities in the USA During the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Amish Population Pyramids: Demographic Patterns across Affiliations in the Holmes County, Ohio, Settlement

Pathways to Immunity: Patterns of Excess Death Across the United States and Within Closed Religious Communities

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