Using Inoculation to Confer Resistance to Persuasion by Extremist Propaganda

• In Event: Truth and/or Consequences

Abstract

Past research has shown that attitudinal inoculation effectively promotes resistance to persuasion. Despite inoculation’s demonstrated efficacy, it has not been tested as a means of preventing the adoption of beliefs and attitudes consistent with violent extremist ideologies. The current study addresses this gap in the literature. In a between-subjects experiment, participants (N = 357) were exposed to an inoculation message or no-inoculation control message before reading left- or right-wing extremist propaganda. Inoculation triggered psychological reactance, which in turn, reduced intention to support the extremist group. Inoculation also diminished perceptions of the extremist group’s credibility, which positively predicted support intention. These results expand the applicable scope of inoculation theory, further clarify the nature of reactance, and have implications for the development of messages intended to dissuade beliefs and attitudes consistent with violent extremist ideologies.

Author

• Kurt Braddock, The Pennsylvania State University