Cornelia Betsch

Universität Erfurt | UE · Center for Empirical Research in Economics and Behavioral Sciences //Seminar für Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaft

Vaccination rates are still insufficient to prevent the spread of COVID‐19, so immunity must be increased among the population in order to reduce the virus’ spread and the associated medical and psychosocial effects. Although previous work has identified various factors associated with a low willingness to get vaccinated, the role of emotions such...

While psychological reactance is often invoked to explain the unintended boomerang effects of persuasive health messages, underlying processes that might explain how reactance affects behavior are rarely studied. We investigated whether messages that elicit reactance can bias attention by increasing the perception of information that potentially fa...

The existence of pandemic fatigue has been debated fiercely. We introduce a theoretical conceptualization and brief measure of this construct. Using this measure across two large repeated cross- sectional surveys in Denmark and Germany, respectively, as well as one panel survey in Denmark (overall N = 34,582), we provide evidence for the existence...

Background: It has been reported that a substantial number of COVID-19 infections are asymptomatic, with both symptomatic and asymptomatic infections contributing to transmission dynamics. Yet, the share of asymptomatic cases varies greatly across studies. One reason for this could be the measurement of symptoms in medical studies and surveys. Desi...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing was one of the more important behaviours for reducing the spread of the virus. The present study investigated the influence on pathogen avoidance of familiarity with other people at private gatherings. Based on the social identity model of risk taking and the theory of the behavioural immune system,...

Understanding individuals' preferences for antibiotics can help mitigate the acceleration of antibiotic resistance. Similar to the climate crisis, individuals "today" need to appropriately use antibiotics to reduce the negative consequences of antibiotic resistance for individuals "tomorrow." We use an established-yet novel in this research field-b...

As SARS-CoV-2 spreads especially when larger groups gather (e.g., at the workplace), it is crucial to understand compliance with regulations and recommendations in such settings. Using data from adults in Germany (N = 29,355) assessed between October 2021 and February 2022, we investigated factors associated with self-reported compliance in both pr...

This Comment piece summarises current challenges regarding routine vaccine uptake in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and provides recommendations on how to increase uptake. To implement these recommendations, the article points to evidence-based resources that can support health-care workers, policy makers and communicators.

Background Mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic requires continued uptake of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. To increase vaccination intention and uptake, key determinants of primary and booster vaccination need to be understood and potential effects of vaccination policies examined. Design Using experimental data collected in Germany in February 2022 ( N = 2...

Applying behavioural science can support system-level change for climate protection. Behavioural scientists should provide reliable large-scale data that help in understanding public perceptions and behaviours. Governments should secure infrastructure for data collection and the implementation of evidence.

This Comment piece summarises current challenges regarding routine vaccine uptake in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and provides recommendations on how to increase uptake. To implement these recommendations, the article points to evidence-based resources that can support health care workers, policy makers and communicators.

Public discord between those vaccinated and those unvaccinated for COVID-19 has intensified globally. Theories of intergroup relations propose that identifying with one’s social group plays a key role in the perceptions and behaviours that fuel intergroup conflict. We test whether identification with one’s vaccination status is associated with curr...

Der Mensch ist einer der Haupt-Wirte des Coronavirus. Wie wir die Pandemie wahrnehmen und uns verhalten, beeinflusst, wie sich die Pandemie entwickelt.

This study investigates the impact of an immersive virtual reality (VR) simulation of herd immunity on vaccination intentions and its potential underlying mechanisms. In this preregistered field study, N = 654 participants were randomly assigned to one of the three VR conditions: (1) Gamified Herd Immunity; (2) Gamified Herd Immunity + Empathy (wit...

Misinformation about mRNA vaccination is a barrier in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, authorities often rely on text-based refutations as a countermeasure. In two experiments ( N = 2,444), text-based refutations effectively reduced the belief in misinformation and immunized participants against the impact of a misleading socia...

Background In Germany, a measles vaccine mandate came into effect in March 2020, requiring proof of measles immunization for children attending kindergarten or school and for staff in a variety of facilities. Mandates can be successful if implemented with care and in a context-sensitive manner. They may, however, also lead to inequities and decreas...

Background: The Planetary Health Action Survey investigates the gap between scientific consensus and collective action to protect our planet's and our own health. Following a theory driven and theory testing approach, we aim to better understand social cognitive processes leading to citizens' readiness to act against climate change. Our findings c...

Misinformation and media reports about critical events in vaccine trials challenge public confidence in Covid-19 vaccine safety. Three online experiments using 2×2 between-subjects designs examined the impact of vaccine type, misinformation debunking, and critical events during vaccine trials. In Experiment 1, N = 984 participants received informat...

Background While the majority of the German population was fully vaccinated at the time (about 65%), COVID-19 incidence started growing exponentially in October 2021 with about 41% of recorded new cases aged twelve or above being symptomatic breakthrough infections, presumably also contributing to the dynamics. So far, it remained elusive how signi...

Background: COVID-19 booster vaccine uptake rates are behind the rate of primary vaccination in many countries. Governments and non-governmental institutions rely on a range of interventions aiming to increase booster uptake. Yet, little is known how experts and the general public evaluate these interventions. Methods: We applied a novel crowdsourc...

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, governments must make decisions based on a variety of information including estimations of infection spread, health care capacity, economic and psychosocial considerations. The disparate validity of current short-term forecasts of these factors is a major challenge to governments. By causally linking an establi...

Background The contribution of vaccination to global public health and community wellbeing has been described as one of the greatest success stories of modern medicine. However, 13.5 million children still miss at least one of their routine vaccinations, and this contributes to about 1.5 million deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. One of the...

Vaccine-preventable-diseases are major contributors to disease burden in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is dearth of knowledge on the drivers of childhood vaccine hesitancy in Nigeria and its impact on coverage. Although understudied, pregnant women are a particularly important vulnerable group and very relevant for childhood vaccination decisions. This...

Background: COVID-19 booster vaccine uptake rates are behind the rate of primary vaccination in many countries. Governments and non-governmental institutions rely on a range of interventions aiming to increase booster uptake. Yet, little is known how experts and the general public evaluate these interventions. Methods: We applied a novel crowdsourc...

The adoption and acceptance of protective measures are crucial for containing the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In a recent article in this journal, Dohle et al. (https://doi.org/10.32872/spb.4315) investigated the influence of risk perceptions and trust in politics and science on those constructs in March/April 2020. Since then,...

To reach high vaccination rates against COVID-19, children and adolescents should be also vaccinated. To improve childhood vaccination rates and vaccination readiness, parents need to be addressed since they decide about the vaccination of their children. We adapted the 7C of vaccination readiness scale to measure parents’ readiness to vaccinate th...

This study investigates the impact of an immersive virtual reality (VR) simulation of herd immunity on vaccination intentions and its potential underlying mechanisms. In this preregistered field study, N = 654 participants were randomly assigned to one of the three VR conditions: (1) Gamified Herd Immunity; (2) Gamified Herd Immunity + Empathy (wit...

Monetary and legal incentives have been proposed to promote COVID-19 vaccination uptake. To evaluate the suitability of incentives, an experiment with German participants examined the effects of payments (varied within subjects: 0 to 10,000 EUR) and freedoms (varied between subjects: vaccination leading vs. not leading to the same benefits as a neg...

Zusammenfassung Ziel der Studie Bisher fehlt es hierzulande an Erkenntnissen zur Einstellung zur Grippeimpfung in der Grippesaison 2021/2022. Basierend auf der COSMO-Befragung („COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring“) ist es daher das Ziel dieser Studie, die Einstellung zur Grippeimpfung näher zu beleuchten. Methodik Welle 49 (10. und 11. August 2021) der C...

Mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic requires continued uptake of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Using experimental data collected in Germany in February 2022 (N = 2,701), this study investigated (a) predictors of primary and booster vaccination and (b) potential effects of policies combining vaccination mandates and monetary incentives. Compared to unvaccina...

Ending the COVID-19 pandemic will require rapid large-scale uptake of vaccines against the disease. Mandating vaccination is discussed as a suitable strategy to increase uptake. In a series of cross-sectional quota-representative surveys and two preregistered experiments conducted in Germany and the US (total N = 4629), we investigated (i) correlat...

During a pandemic, demand for intensive care often exceeds availability. Experts agree that allocation should maximize benefits and must not be based on whether patients could have taken preventive measures. However, intensive care units (ICUs) are often overburdened by individuals with severe COVID-19 who have chosen not to be vaccinated to preven...

Background: Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, concerted efforts have been invested in research to investigate and communicate the importance of complying with protective behaviors, such as handwashing and mask wearing. Protective measures vary in how effective they are in protecting the individual against infection, how much experience people have w...

Background Vaccination coverage needs to reach more than 80% to resolve the COVID-19 pandemic, but vaccine hesitancy, fuelled by misinformation, may jeopardize this goal. Unvaccinated older adults are not only at risk of COVID-19 complications but may also be misled by false information. Prebunking, based on inoculation theory, involves ‘forewarnin...

Contact tracing apps have been identified as a promising technology to curb the spread of COVID-19. To be effective, a sufficient number of individuals needs to install the app and to disclose information like a COVID-19 infection to such an app. Yet, usage data demonstrates that a large amount of app users does not disclose a COVID-19 infection to...

Background Vaccination is the most effective means of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. Despite the proven benefits of vaccination, vaccine hesitancy keeps many people from getting vaccinated. Methods and findings We conducted a large-scale cluster randomized controlled trial in Finland to test the effectiveness of centralized written...

Background: Mandating vaccination against COVID-19 is often discussed as a means to counter low vaccine uptake. Beyond the potential legal, ethical, and psychological concerns, a successful implementation also needs to consider citizens’ support for such a policy. Public attitudes toward vaccination mandates and their determinants might differ over...

Most vaccines not only directly protect vaccinated individuals but also provide a social benefit through community protection. Therefore, vaccination can be considered a prosocial act to protect others. We review the recent empirical evidence on (i) how prosocial concerns relate to vaccination intentions and (ii) promoting prosocial vaccination thr...

As vaccination campaigns for COVID-19 fail to achieve sufficient immunization rates, public discord between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated has intensified globally. To explore the idea that identifying with one's vaccination status plays a key role in this societal polarization, the study draws on unique survey data from large samples of vacci...

The increasing development of resistant pathogens is one of the greatest global health challenges. As antibiotic overuse amplifies antibiotic resistance, antibiotic intake poses a social dilemma in which individuals need to decide whether to prosocially reduce their intake in the collective interest versus to (over)use it even in case of mild disea...

During a pandemic, demand for intensive care often exceeds availability. Experts agree that allocation should maximize benefits and must not be based on whether patients could have taken preventive measures. However, intensive care units (ICUs) are often overburdened by individuals with severe COVID-19 who have chosen not to be vaccinated to preven...

Die bisherigen Maßnahmen zur Steigerung der Impfbereitschaft reichen offensichtlich nicht, um die erforderliche Impfquote zu erzielen. Über verschiedene Arten verpflichtender Regelungen und die Vor- und Nachteile einer Impfpflicht muss nachgedacht werden.

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Eltern stehen während der COVID-19-Pandemie vor einer Vielzahl persönlicher Herausforderungen, während sie gleichzeitig mit schulbezogenen Maßnahmen zur Pandemieeindämmung konfrontiert werden. Zielsetzung Dieser Beitrag fokussiert auf die Belastung von Eltern mit Kindern im Schulalter über verschiedene Phasen der COVID...

Vaccines are the most powerful pharmaceutical tool to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. While the majority (about 65%) of the German population were fully vaccinated, incidence started growing exponentially in October 2021 with about 41% of recorded new cases aged twelve or above being symptomatic breakthrough infections, presumably also contributing t...

Trotz aktuell steigender Impfbereitschaft unter den Erstimpfungen ist nicht abzusehen, dass die vom RKI geforderten Impfquoten für die künftige Kontrolle des SARS-CoV-2 Virus mit den bisherigen Maßnahmen zur Steigerung der Impfbereitschaft erreicht werden können (Stand: Ende November, 2021). Daher werden in diesem Artikel drei Typen verpflichtender...

Background: Vaccine hesitancy is the delay or refusal of vaccines despite their availability. Here, we explored factors that influence hesitancy among caregivers of children and adolescent girls eligible for routine immunisation and the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in Malawi. Methods: The study used key informant interviews and focus-group di...

Background: Vaccine-preventable diseases are major contributors to the disease burden in Sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for many childhood illnesses, disabilities, and mortality. There is dearth of knowledge on the drivers of vaccine hesitancy in Nigeria and the extent of its impact on coverage. Pregnant women are a particularly important vulnerabl...

Psychological Reactance Theory assumes that the restriction of valued behaviors elicits anger and negative cognitions, motivating actions to regain the limited freedom. Two studies investigated the effects of two possible restrictions affecting COVID-19 vaccination: the limitation of non-vaccination by mandates and the limitation of vaccination by...

To reach high vaccination rates against COVID-19, children and adolescents should be also vaccinated. To improve childhood vaccination rates and vaccination readiness, parents need to be addressed since they decide about the vaccination of their children. We adapted the 7C of vaccination readiness scale to measure parents’ readiness to vaccinate th...

Cultivation theory assumes that frequent exposure to certain media can lead people to perceive the real world through the lens of their preferred media. This led to the research question of whether fans of science fiction who are accustomed to seeing problem solving based on science and technology are prone to accept science- and technology-based i...

Background: Vaccines are among the most effective and cost-efficient public health interventions for promoting child health. However, uptake is considerably affected by vaccine hesitancy. An example is Malawi, with a decline in second vaccine doses and the highest cervical cancer incidence and mortality rate in Sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding va...

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, public perceptions and behaviours have had to adapt rapidly to new risk scenarios and radical behavioural restrictions. Aim To identify major drivers of acceptance of protective behaviours during the 4-week transition from virtually no COVID-19 cases to the nationwide lockdown in Germany (3–25 March 2020)....

Age is a critical risk factor for severe COVID-19. This is mirrored by older people showing preventive health behaviors more frequently. However, collective action across all age groups is necessary to reduce transmission. Therefore, this study assessed whether age differences are moderated by policy changes and whether policies further moderate th...

Background Pregnant women are at high risk for severe influenza. However, maternal influenza vaccination uptake in most World Health Organization (WHO) European Region countries remains low, despite the presence of widespread national recommendations. An influenza vaccination reduces influenza-associated morbidity and mortality in pregnancy, as wel...

Background: Vaccine hesitancy is the delay or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccination services.

Because of the increasing popularity of voice-controlled virtual assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant, they should be considered a new medium for psychological and behavioral research. We developed Survey Mate, an extension of Google Assistant, and conducted two studies to analyze the reliability and validity of data collected th...

During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic mobile health applications indicating risks emerging from close contacts to infected persons have a large potential to interrupt transmission chains by automating contact tracing. Since its dispatch in Germany in June 2020 the Corona Warn App has been downloaded on 25.7 Mio smartphones by February 2021. To understand...

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is posing a global public health burden. These consequences have been shown to increase the risk of mental distress, but the underlying protective and risk factors for mental distress and trends over different waves of the pandemic are largely unknown. Furthermore, it is larg...

In their recent contribution, Savulescu et al. (2021) argued that mandating vaccination of children against COVID-19 could contribute to public health but may be difficult to justify, given the low disease severity and uncertainties about vaccination safety and effectiveness for children. However, when assessing the utility of mandatory vaccination...

Background Separating ill or possibly infectious people from their healthy community is one of the core principles of non-pharmaceutical interventions. However, there is scarce evidence on how to successfully implement quarantine orders. We investigated a community quarantine for an entire village in Germany (Neustadt am Rennsteig, March 2020) with...

Significance Rapid testing with antigen tests accompanies efforts for controlling the disease dynamics in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. A high willingness to carry out these tests and high test literacy of potential users are needed. In four cross-sectional data collections with more than 4,000 participa...

Zusammenfassung Impfmüdigkeit bezeichnet das Verzögern, Auslassen oder Ablehnen wichtiger Impfungen trotz ihrer Verfügbarkeit. Die Impfung gegen humane Papillomviren (HPV) schützt gegen verschiedene Varianten von Gebärmutterhalskrebs und wird für Mädchen und Jungen im Alter von 9–14 Jahren empfohlen. Allerdings sind die Impfquoten im Vergleich zu a...

The World Health Organization and global partners sought to identify existing measures of confidence in childhood vaccines, as part of a broader effort to measure the range of behavioural and social drivers of vaccination. We identified 14 confidence measures applicable to childhood vaccination in general, all published between 2010 and 2019. The m...

In their recent communication, Callegaro and colleagues could show that mRNA vaccination boosts antibodies elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infections. Thus, vaccinating not only uninfected but also previously infected individuals could become important for controlling the pandemic. We investigated the vaccination intentions of previously infected, recovered...

Man sagt, dass die Impfung ihr eigener Feind sei: Der Erfolg von Impfungen führt allgemein dazu, dass Infektionskrankheiten weniger sichtbar sind und wir meist gar nicht mehr verstehen, warum überhaupt geimpft werden soll [1].

„Podiumsdiskussion: Was lernen wir aus der Vergangenheit, wie entwickeln wir Impfstoffe, Impfstrategien und Therapien für die Zukunft?“

Background: Vaccines are among the most effective and cost-efficient public health interventions for promoting child health. However, uptake is considerably affected by vaccine hesitancy. Malawi has experienced a decline in second vaccine doses and has the highest cervical cancer incidence and mortality rate in Sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding vac...

Monetary and legal incentives have been proposed to promote COVID-19 vaccination uptake. To evaluate the suitability of incentives, an experiment with German participants examined the effects of payments (varied within subjects: 0 to 10,000 EUR) and freedoms (varied between subjects: vaccination leading vs. not leading to the same benefits as a neg...

Background Nighttime curfews have been discussed and implemented in many countries as a means of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is evidence that such curfews have little or no effect on disease dynamics when other measures such as bans on gatherings or business and school closures are already in place. There are two possible expl...

Introduction: Health literacy is an important competency to make informed, shared decisions in line with patient's preferences. On the other hand, lower health literacy is associated with poorer health outcomes. Evidence-based patient decision aids (EbPDA) are validated instruments to support informed medical decisions and empower patients for rel...