Antivaccine belief systems and conspiracy theories in Brazil: An exploratory study on the Covid-19 Pandemic

International Journal of Development Research

Volume: 
11
Article ID: 
22225
6 pages
Research Article

Antivaccine belief systems and conspiracy theories in Brazil: An exploratory study on the Covid-19 Pandemic

Luís Antônio Monteiro Campos, Vinicius Cordeiro Macedo, Saory Ladeira Murakami, Adriana Carvalho Soa, Camila Carmen Contreras Lagos, Catarina Coutinho Amaral, Júlia Girassol Britto da Silveira, Scheila Farias de Paiva, Ana Lucia Teixeira Hirschle and Rodolfo Ribas

Abstract: 

This paper aims to investigate the beliefs that are present in the population regarding vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is considered that during this period; besides the negative effects of the virus, the world also suffers from the dissemination of fake news, inducing a part of the population to have an opinion contrary to what has been sought by scientists. Since belief is understood as any statement accepted by at least one person about a social object, the study had the participation of a sample of 200 people to answer the Adherence to Antivaccine Conspiracy Theories Scale, in which the participants presented their beliefs about vaccines through their answers. The results point out that in the sample studied there is no evidence of a significant adherence to antivaccine conspiracy theories, and this can be explained by the level of education of the participants. And it suggests that new studies should be carried out to expand the sample.

DOI: 
https://doi.org/10.37118/ijdr.22225.06.2021
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