Laurent Lardeux et Vincent Tiberj (dir.), Générations désenchantées ? Jeunes et démocratie

The Influence of Social Media and Institutional Trust on Vaccine Hesitancy in France: Examining Direct and Mediating Processes

“…Indeed, we found that the young are more vaccine hesitant and have a much higher PISM. While we did not find a strong generational gap when it comes to distrust in institutions in general, many studies focusing on trust in political actors, politicization, and participation to politics in France have found that people currently aged less than 30-40 are particularly wary of politicians and public institutions [65]. In France, the generation that grew up with the rise of social media also grew up with the economic crisis of 2008, rising inequalities, the rise of the Far Right and the Far Left, the demise of the traditional opposition between Center Right and Center Left parties, and the multiplication of vaccine-related controversies.…”

“…Importantly, alternative media channels may be particularly appealing when people distrust institutions. Given French residents' historical distrust for institutions [20,65,66]-which include traditional media-individuals will turn to alternative information resources (such as social media) for information. Distrust in institutions can drive individuals away from mainstream sources, sources that give too much attention and credit to institutional/mainstream actors.…”