Who fears the HPV vaccine, who doesn’t, and why? An experimental study of the mechanisms of cultural cognition.

2010/01/13 by Dan M. Kahan, Donald Braman, Geoffrey L. Cohen +2 · 102 citations
Social Sciences · Psychology · Medicine · #Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy #Risk Perception and Management #Climate Change Communication and Perception #Cognition #Cervical cancer #Credibility #Perception #Vaccination #Psychology #Social psychology #Sample (material) #Politics #Medicine #Political science #Cancer #Law #Immunology #Psychiatry

paper · open access · doi:10.1007/s10979-009-9201-0

published in Law and Human Behavior 34(6), 501-516 (American Psychological Association)

openalex publication_date 2010/01/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15

Abstract

The cultural cognition thesis holds that individuals form risk perceptions that reflect their commitments to contested views of the good society. We conducted a study that used the dispute over mandatory HPV vaccination to test the cultural cognition thesis. Although public health officials have recommended that all girls aged 11 or 12 be vaccinated for HPV-a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer-political controversy has blocked adoption of mandatory school-enrollment vaccination programs in all but one state. An experimental study of a large sample of American adults (N = 1,538) found that cultural cognition generates disagreement about the risks and benefits of the vaccine through two mechanisms: biased assimilation, and the credibility heuristic. We discuss theoretical and practical implications.

Citations

• Biased assimilation and attitude polarization: The effects of prior theories on subsequently considered evidence.
• Maps of Bounded Rationality: Psychology for Behavioral Economics
• Salient Value Similarity, Social Trust, and Risk/Benefit Perception
• BIASES IN THE INTERPRETATION AND USE OF RESEARCH RESULTS
• The Influence of Source Credibility on Communication Effectiveness
• Prevalence of HPV Infection Among Females in the United States
• The Persuasiveness of Source Credibility: A Critical Review of Five Decades' Evidence

Cited by

• Cultural cognition of scientific consensus
• The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks
• Cultural cognition [wikipedia]

Related

• Influence of Evidence Type and Narrative Type on HPV Risk Perception and Intention to Obtain the HPV Vaccine
• Sociodemographic correlates of vaccine hesitancy in the United States and the mediating role of beliefs about governmental conspiracies
• Analysis of HPV vaccine hesitancy - a scoping review
• Unlocking the key to HPV prevention: Exploring factors influencing HPV vaccination decisions among young people and their parents
• Perceived Social Norms and Vaccine Hesitancy