Knowing less but presuming more: Dunning-Kruger effects and the endorsement of anti-vaccine policy attitudes

Motta, Matthew; Callaghan, Timothy; Sylvester, Steven

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.06.032

Cited by 237 publications

(216 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Furthermore, low levels of knowledge has been associated with overconfidence amongst nonprofessionals in their own knowledge. 5 The frontline vaccinator remains the strongest influencer of vaccine uptake by the general population, [6][7][8][9][10] and is typically an HCP who is committed to vaccinating and advocating vaccination. Numerous studies documenting the causes, effects and extent of vaccine hesitancy have reiterated the need to equip and educate frontline vaccinators in order to maintain high vaccine coverage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges facing vaccinators in the 21^stcentury: results from a focus group qualitative study

Wiot

Shirley²,

Prugnola

et al. 2019

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics

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Introduction: Barriers to vaccination and the important role of healthcare professionals (HCPs) in influencing immunization decisions made by parents/patients have been well documented. Little information describes challenges that HCPs face in carrying out their role as vaccinators.Methods: We conducted a focus group study asking HCPs to describe their expectations as frontline vaccinators versus the day-to-day reality they faced. Participants described challenges impacting their ability and motivation as vaccinators, and proposed key solutions to the most important challenges. A total of 75 nurses and physicians (sixteen groups of frontline vaccinators) from the United Kingdom, United States, Germany and India participated in 2 hour focus-group discussions.Results: There was disconnect between how participants viewed their role in preserving population health when they started their career, and the reality of real-world practice today. Challenges experienced and reflected were similar across professional groups and countries. Low patient-level vaccine knowledge, patient miseducation, untimely vaccine information, frequently changing vaccine schedules, time pressures, lack of centralized record systems, pressure to achieve vaccination targets, and in some instances vaccine costs, all impacted the efficiency and enthusiasm of HCPs. Identified solutions by the same providers included improving patient-level information, equipping HCPs with effective information, and practical ways to reduce the vaccination burden by improved administrative processes and centralized recording coupled with delegating vaccinator roles.Conclusion: This focus group gives unique insights into needs of HCPs to fulfill their role as vaccinators. Supporting and equipping vaccinators is critical to the continuing success of vaccination programs and the proposed life-course immunization strategy. (Supplementary Appendix 1)

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges facing vaccinators in the 21^stcentury: results from a focus group qualitative study

Wiot

Shirley²,

Prugnola

et al. 2019

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics

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“…Lo anterior termina convirtiéndose en un terreno fértil para que las teorías conspirativas se vuelvan sucedáneos al conocimiento empírico científico, y terminen psicológicamente dignificando al supuesto excluido del conocimiento, al hacerle pensar que hay algo que él sabe que los demás no, y que es su deber informarlo a todos. Esto, por ejemplo, ha sido descrito recientemente en el caso de las vacunas como un efecto psicológico de Dunning-Kruger, donde aquellos más hostiles a ellas son justamente las que menos entienden sus fundamentos 2 . Es esperado entonces que estos sistemas seudocientíficos logren cautivar más fácilmente a las personas con menos competencias en pensamiento crítico, exponiéndonos peligrosamente al error simplista de catalogarlos a todos como ignorantes, cuando el problema es más complejo y estructural.…”

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El movimiento anti-vacunas y la anti-ciencia como amenaza para la Salud Pública

Fernández-Niño

Baquero

2019

revsal

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“…First, the anti-vaccine, GMO and climate change issues are highly controversial with polarized populations for or against it, while this is not the case for most of the attitudes tested in the Eurobarometer dataset. The respondents in [31,34] have strong opinions and are likely to believe to be very well informed, while the respondents in this dataset are least confident in the low k bins. This is in line with the predictions of the Dunning-Kruger effect, as confidence peaks in the middle and not for low k. Second, these are also issues for which there are large amounts of false information circulating online.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Offering "too easy" science texts might lead to overconfidence and underrate the need for experts [28], and just searching for information online on one subject leads to people to overestimate their knowledge on an unrelated subject [29]. Dunning and Kruger have shown that confidence grows faster than knowledge [30] and this effect might be relevant in the anti-vaccination movement, with surveyed "anti-vaxxers" overestimating their knowledge on autism, and overconfidence being largest for lowest knowledge bins [31]. Together, this suggests that confidence might play an important, while overlooked, role in modulating the relationship between knowledge and attitudes towards science.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing: Excess Confidence Explains Negative Attitudes Towards Science

Francisco

Gonçalves-Sá

2019

SSRN Journal

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Scientific knowledge has been accepted as the main driver of development, allowing for longer, healthier, and more comfortable lives. Still, public support to scientific research is wavering, with large numbers of people being uninterested or even hostile towards science. This is having serious social consequences, from the anti-vaccination community to the recent "post-truth" movement. Such lack of trust and appreciation for science was first justified as lack of knowledge, leading to the "Deficit Model" [1,2]. As an increase in scientific information did not necessarily lead to a greater appreciation, this model was largely rejected, giving rise to "Public Engagement Models" [3]. These try to offer more nuanced, two-way, communication pipelines between experts and the general public, strongly respecting non-expert knowledge, possibly even leading to an undervaluing of science. Therefore, we still lack an encompassing theory that can explain public understanding of science, allowing for more targeted and informed approaches. Here, we use a large dataset from the Science and Technology Eurobarometer surveys, over 25 years in 34 countries [4], and find evidence that a combination of confidence and knowledge is a good predictor of attitudes towards science. This is contrary to current views, that place knowledge as secondary, and in line with findings in behavioral psychology, particularly the Dunning-Kruger effect, as negative attitudes peak at intermediate levels of knowledge, where confidence is largest. We propose a new model, based on the superposition of the Deficit and Dunning-Kruger models and discuss how this can inform science communication.

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Knowing less but presuming more: Dunning-Kruger effects and the endorsement of anti-vaccine policy attitudes

Cited by 237 publications

References 38 publications

Challenges facing vaccinators in the 21^stcentury: results from a focus group qualitative study

Challenges facing vaccinators in the 21^stcentury: results from a focus group qualitative study

El movimiento anti-vacunas y la anti-ciencia como amenaza para la Salud Pública

A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing: Excess Confidence Explains Negative Attitudes Towards Science

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Knowing less but presuming more: Dunning-Kruger effects and the endorsement of anti-vaccine policy attitudes

Cited by 237 publications

References 38 publications

Challenges facing vaccinators in the 21stcentury: results from a focus group qualitative study

Challenges facing vaccinators in the 21stcentury: results from a focus group qualitative study

El movimiento anti-vacunas y la anti-ciencia como amenaza para la Salud Pública

A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing: Excess Confidence Explains Negative Attitudes Towards Science

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Challenges facing vaccinators in the 21^stcentury: results from a focus group qualitative study

Challenges facing vaccinators in the 21^stcentury: results from a focus group qualitative study