Work

Emotional Susceptibility to Public Scrutiny and Vaccine Hesitancy: An Exploratory Experimental Analysis

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This paper explores the understudied link between self-consciousness and vaccine scepticism, combining an experimental approach with causal forests to estimate individual treatment effects. Leveraging data from a laboratory experiment with Italian university students, we find that individuals who are more easily induced to self-conscious responses (e.g., feeling shame or embarrassment) in response to public scrutiny tend to hold stronger vaccine misbeliefs. Rather than identifying a causal effect of self-consciousness elicitation on vaccine attitudes, our results highlight a correlation between pre-treatment attitudes and susceptibility to self-conscious emotions. This suggests that studying targeted public health communication may be crucial, as more sceptical individuals could avoid discussing with health professionals or develop self-conscious emotions as a result of these interactions, further exacerbating their vaccine hesitancy.

Source: Italian Economic Journal

DOI: 10.1007/s40797-026-00365-6

Authors: Christine Alamaa, Alice Dominici

Institutions: Stockholm University, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Bocconi University

Language: English

Topic: Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,290