Regret, Biases, and Other Factors That Influence Vaccination Decisions

Like other domains of decision making, decisions about vaccines and vaccination are subject to a number of social, cognitive, and emotional influences. These stem from the architecture of the human brain (i.e., our emotions and cognitions) and from social processes.

This talk will explore some of these issues using concepts and approaches from behavioral decision science. Findings from both experimental and also real-world approaches to vaccination decision making will be covered. Specific vaccines, including MMR and influenza A/H1N1, will be utilized as exemplars to illustrate the impact of a range of factors and biases on decision making.