Understanding Vaccination Hesitancy by Studying Irregular Individuals

Vaccination is a very effective tool to fight the spread of infectious diseases. However, some people refuse to be vaccinated (or have their children vaccinated) and this prevents high vaccination coverage and the elimination of infectious diseases. In this project, we focus on irregular individuals, that is, individuals who favor (or oppose) vaccination despite having traits and identities that make them likely to oppose (or favor) vaccination. The aim of the project is to better understand why people sometimes refuse vaccination. The ultimate goal of the project is to find strategies to reduce vaccination hesitancy and increase vaccination coverage.

Team
Mitchell Matthijssen worked as a PhD student on this project. He is interested in why people are in favor or opposed to vaccinations. He did his Research Master in Social and Behavioral Sciences at Tilburg University.

Dr. Florian van Leeuwen is a social psychologist. He studies how motivations for pathogen avoidance influence thoughts, feelings, and social behaviors.

Dr. Mariëlle Cloin is a sociologist working at Tranzo. Her expertise is on (local) public health issues and health promotion in (vulnerable) populations.

Prof. Dr. Ien van de Goor is program leader Public Health and prevention research at Tranzo with a background in health sciences. Her research focuses on developing and evaluating (local) public health policy and interventions.

Prof. Dr. Peter Achterberg is a cultural sociologist who studies how people think about science and scientific institutions.