Confirmatory bias in health decisions: Evidence from the MMR-autism controversy

Mengcen Qian, Shin-Yi Chou and Ernest K. Lai

Journal of Health Economics, 2020, vol. 70, issue C

Abstract: Since Wakefield et al. (1998), the public was exposed to mixed information surrounding the claim that measles–mumps–rubella vaccine causes autism. A persistent trend to delay the vaccination during 1998–2011 in the US was driven by children of college-educated mothers, suggesting that these mothers held biases against the vaccine influenced by the early unfounded claim. Consistent with confirmatory bias, exposures to negative information about the vaccine strengthened their biases more than exposures to positive information attenuated them. Positive online information, however, had strong impacts on vaccination decisions, suggesting that online dissemination of vaccine-safety information may help tackle the sticky misinformation.

Keywords: MMR vaccine; Autism; Confirmatory bias; Media; Misinformation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 I18 I26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:70:y:2020:i:c:s0167629619302450

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102284

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