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https://theconversation.com/being-mentally-flexible-might-influence-our-attitudes-to-vaccination-a-new-study-shows-241559>
"Making decisions about our health is a complex and sometimes difficult
process.
On top of our own attitudes, experiences and perspectives, we are inundated
with information from other people (friends, family, health professionals) and
from external sources (news or social media) about what it means to be healthy.
Sometimes, this information is consistent with what we think about our own
health. At other times, it may contradict our own beliefs. And to make things
even more complicated, sometimes this information is deliberate misinformation.
How do we make sense of all this when making decisions about our health? What
determines whether we hold fast to our attitudes, or change our minds?
Most of us can probably relate to this. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to
change many of our behaviours to slow the spread of the virus. This meant
working from home, wearing a mask, staying in our “bubbles”, and eventually
getting the vaccine.
While the decision to get vaccinated was an obvious one for many people, it was
not as straightforward for others. Research from the period immediately before
the COVID vaccine became available in New Zealand showed a sizeable minority
was unsure about or unlikely to be vaccinated.
These people were more likely to be young, female and less educated, and were
primarily concerned about unknown future side effects. Our new research
suggests cognitive (mental) flexibility may also have something to do with
attitudes towards vaccination."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
