Experts Discover New Approach to Motivating People to Get Vaccines and Apply Makeup

In the face of a global pandemic, with more than 200 million infections worldwide and 4 million deaths, and despite unprecedented efforts by public health officials, celebrities and influencers to convince everyone to wear masks and getting vaccinated as early as possible, the results are mixed.

Now, two Princeton researchers have discovered an approach they have found to be successful in motivating people to schedule immunizations and routinely follow measures such as social distancing and mask wearing.

We believe we are on to something unique that has yet to be tried in the COVID context. I kept thinking, there is a group of people that PSAs will never reach because they already agree. Oh, they might not be the most enthusiastic, but they already agree that vaccines are good and people should be taking them. But they are the ones who find excuses. ‘Oh, that’s too hard.’ “I couldn’t do it now. These are the people who will not be reached by the other current methods, but who can be reached with our method. “

Joel Cooper, Professor of Psychology, Princeton University

Rather than targeting the very vocal minority of people who insist they will never get vaccinated, Cooper and his graduate student Logan Pearce have focused on people whose actions do not always match their stated beliefs. In total, they studied 101 participants.

“Persuading the remaining skeptics is extremely important, but the data points to a more puzzling and alarming story,” Cooper said. “In a recent study, between 80% and 90% of adults agreed that wearing a mask is an effective method of preventing the spread of COVID-19, but only 50% of respondents said they“ always ”wear or even “most of the time”. a mask in case of close contact with other people. Getting people to behave according to CDC guidelines is essential, not just believing that they are the right thing to do. “

“I would love to convince anti-vaccines, but honestly, I don’t know what can convince them at this point,” said Pearce, graduate student in psychology and first author of their article in the journal Basic and Applied Social. Psychology. “I was like, ‘It’s easier to convince people who already think it’s the right thing to do, but they still aren’t doing it.”

Finding What Works: Advocacy and Mindfulness

Previous research had shown that induction of cognitive dissonance -; ask people to keep two contradictory things in mind at the same time -; can be an effective tool to encourage behavior change. Pearce and Cooper created cognitive dissonance among their research participants by first encouraging them to take a public health position -; such as “It is important to wear masks” or “Vaccines will help us end the pandemic” -; then ask them to remember the times when they did not act in accordance with this attitude. Humans feel uncomfortable with cognitive dissonance, and the easiest way to alleviate this discomfort is to change behaviors to become consistent with attitudes.

Some studies have shown that the only piece of mindfulness -; encourage people to remember when their actions did not match their beliefs -; can change behavior, but Cooper has not found evidence of this in his own work. The advocacy piece, vigorously defending the belief or behavior, is vital, he said. Without it, he said, mindfulness work can tip the scales counterproductively.

“People make up their own minds based on their behavior,” he said. “If you tell people, ‘Well, remember when you haven’t,’ whether it’s going to the gym or wearing a mask, it shouldn’t be surprising that they say: “Yeah, I guess I’m the type of person who doesn’t do that. Guess I don’t exercise, put on a mask, go to the store without bringing one. I didn’t really mean to, but that must be who I am. ‘ So to me, the idea of ​​just reminding you, if you will, of “bad behavior” or behavior contrary to your attitudes, it’s not surprising to me that it doesn’t work. “

Their research was conducted in two waves, with data collected one week apart. In the first session, participants in the cognitive dissonance testing group first advocated for constant adherence to safety protocols, and then were asked to recall times when they had acted in an unsafe manner or avoided doing so. get vaccinated when they had the chance. Other volunteers were assigned to one of three control groups: advocacy only, mindfulness only, or none. Participants from all three groups watched a short video encouraging mask-wearing and other anti-COVID-19 measures.

A week later, the researchers evaluated the behaviors reported by their participants. Members of the cognitive dissonance group were much more likely in the middle week to have followed guidelines and requested immunization appointments than participants in one of the control groups.

Pearce found the 101 participants through the online tool Prolific, while working remotely from her home near Atlanta. The participants were between 18 and 67 years old and came from 18 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Poland and Portugal.

Much of this research was conducted before vaccines were widely available, so Cooper and Pearce largely focused on mask wearing and social distancing. When launching the study, they decided to add a few questions to find out if the participants had made or intended to make an appointment to get the pictures.

Bring It Home: Contests and Religious Groups

Pearce and Cooper seek ways to implement their findings on a large scale, inducing dissonance on a larger scale. “I want this project to go beyond academia, to really make a difference,” Pearce said.

She suggested holding contests in which people compete against each other by writing or recording compelling arguments for getting the vaccine, whether through a video, essay, poem, or drawing. Similar efforts have included the “Wear a Mask New York Publicity Contest” and the “Mask Up Alabama Video Contest”.

What sets her contest apart is the second step: including mindfulness. The rules would require contestants to include memories of times when they didn’t actually follow COVID-19 guidelines, such as choosing to forgo a vaccination when it was available. Admitting this will increase the likelihood that the contest participant will change their own behaviors and encourage others to make better choices.

For community leaders who don’t want to run a contest, Pearce and Cooper have other ideas. A religious group might suggest that its members do the exercise as an act of public service, for example.

But whatever approach you take, the combination of the two is essential, Pearce said. “I can use the cognitive dissonance in my life to change my own behavior, and I want to help others do that too.”