The best way to deal with Covid myths this Christmas? Pre-bunk rather than debunk
The holiday season is upon us, but as you’re getting ready for this year’s celebrations you can’t help but notice a sinking feeling in your stomach: you’re going to have to listen to another conspiratorial rant from your cranky uncle at the dinner table. The unwanted gift that likely awaits many of us at home this Christmas – in one form or another – is contagious misinformation.
Although the NHS clearly states that the Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective, a family member may nonetheless share fake news around the dinner table that they cause autoimmune disease, that Bill Gates is using them to implant microchips for global tracking and surveillance, or maybe that the whole vaccine rollout is simply a hoax, given rumours of fake syringes with “disappearing needles”. Perhaps the concerns in question are less conspiratorial in nature but still based on false information, such as the misperception that the vaccines can somehow alter your DNA or actually give you Covid.
As the Omicron variant surges across the UK, Covid-19 booster shots are now available to all adults who want them. But what if you’re talking to a family member who doesn’t want a vaccine because they believe in influential misinformation or conspiracy theories?
Informally named “Cambridge’s defence against the dark arts” teacher, I have studied the psychology of misinformation for many years, so I am well placed to help you counter any misinformation that may be spewed by a family member. Research shows that people’s confidence in vaccines is harmed when they are exposed to debates in which misinformation goes unchallenged. The first point of business should therefore be to inoculate the rest of your family against impending misinformation.
The theory of psychological inoculation follows the medical analogy exactly: just as exposure to a weakened or inactivated strain of the virus triggers the production of antibodies to help fight off future infection, preemptive exposure to a weakened dose of a falsehood (coupled with strong refutations) can help people cultivate mental or intellectual antibodies against future misinformation. In other words, you prebunk, instead of debunk.
So how can you implement this strategy, especially when not everyone is going to be amenable to hearing about the facts? First, it’s important you dig deeper and try to understand what motivates a particular misconception.
By uncovering the underlying “psychological roots” or “technique” used to dupe people, you can prepare your friends and family. To administer the inoculation, you would forewarn your family that they are about to be exposed to a discussion that is going to feature misinformation (after all, forewarned is forearmed). But you would also give – and strongly refute – some weakened examples of the types of misleading arguments that are likely to come up.
Of course, you can’t always predict the exact nature of the discussion, but we’ve found that time and again the same old anti-vaccination tactics are being recycled. For example, you might explain that people used to think the cowpox vaccine would turn you into a human-cow hybrid, and now the Covid-19 vaccine is supposedly altering your DNA. It’s a common trope – don’t fall for it! This way, you raise everyone’s mental defences ahead of time: psychological antigens are being generated against the myth. GoViral!,an online social media simulation that I created with colleagues, shows how to immunise people against common tactics used to spread misinformation about Covid-19.
But what about confronting your cranky uncle directly? My advice is deceptively simple but oft forgotten in the heat of the moment: don’t force people. Calling people “covidiots” or directly dismissing ideas with contempt or disdain won’t get you far, and may have people dig their heels in deeper. Instead, try a technique known as motivational interviewing. This is a non-confrontational approach, based on the premise that people will change views when they feel ready to do so, not when they are told to. It centres around showing empathy, listening and acknowledging (valid) concerns about (in this case) vaccine safety. Then, empower people to find solutions with which they feel comfortable.
You may acknowledge that some conspiracies have really happened in the past, or you can let your loved
ones know that you respect them and take their concerns seriously. Based on research into how to transparently communicate scientific evidence, colleagues and I found that people with negative attitudes towards vaccination will react better when you promote open discussion of the evidence, scientific uncertainties, and benefits and concerns surrounding vaccination. Even diehard “truthers” really care about not being manipulated, so rather than forcing the facts down their throat, help them to unveil the techniques of misinformation on their own – this tends to be a more effective strategy.
Keep in mind that debunking is often not as effective as prebunking because misinformation continues to linger in our brains even when corrected. Have you ever tried to unring a bell? Perhaps, all things considered, the best gift we can bestow upon each other this holiday season is to boost each other’s mental immunity to prevent misinformation from spreading into the new year.
Sander van der Linden is professor of social psychology in society at the University of Cambridge and director of the Cambridge social decision-making laboratory