Republicans, Not Democrats, Are More Likely to Endorse Anti-Vaccine Misinformation

• Author: Matthew Motta
• DOI: 10.1177/1532673X211022639
• Published date: 01 September 2021
• Date: 01 September 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X211022639

American Politics Research

2021, Vol. 49(5) 428 –438

© The Author(s) 2021

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/1532673X211022639

journals.sagepub.com/home/apr

Article

The idea that self-identified Democrats in the US adult popu-

lation are primarily to blame for the popularity of childhood

vaccine misinformation (i.e., that childhood vaccines like

MMR can cause autism) has become a mainstream argument

in contemporary discourse about vaccine safety. Journalistic

outlets, for example, have noted that vaccine refusal tends to

be more common in traditionally liberal (“blue”) versus tra-

ditionally conservative (“red”) states; potentially indicative

of higher levels of vaccine skepticism and misinformation

endorsement in those areas (Berezow, 2014). This view is

supported by academic research identifying liberal metro-

politan areas as “hot spots” for vaccine exemptions and

refusal (Olive et al., 2018).

Additionally, some journalists have portrayed those who

view childhood vaccines as unsafe—and/or those who avoid

vaccinating their children—as so-called “Whole Foods

Moms” (e.g., Lubrano, 2019); that is, middle-income women

who shop at higher-end grocery stores like Whole Foods,

which tend to sell a variety of popular homeopathic and natu-

ral remedies to common medical ailments (Stone, 2019).

Although these pieces do not always expressly typecast

“Whole Foods Moms” as Democrats, the Whole Foods brand

itself has come to take on a decisively liberal reputation in

the US. Election analysts, for example, often note sharp dif-

ferences in voting behavior between areas that have Whole

Foods stores versus those that do not (e.g., Collins, 2018;

Fearnow, 2019), which has been referred to be some election

commentators as the “Whole Foods Bubble” (Wasserman,

2020).

Still others (e.g., Bricker & Justice, 2019) note anecdot-

ally that prominent anti-vaccine activist Robert Kennedy Jr.

(Mnookin, 2017), has longstanding dies to the Democratic

party and has endorsed several Democratic presidential can-

didates (e.g., Welch, 2003). Some celebrities who question

vaccine safety (e.g., Bricker & Justice, 2019) have also made

public statements indicating that they hold politically liberal

views (Furdyk, 2017).

Although the anecdotal link between identification with

the Democratic party and vaccine misinformation has

found a footing in popular discourse, academic research on

the issue is considerably more mixed. In a synthesis of

recent research on anti-vaccine opinion in the US, Bricker

and Justice (2019) point to public opinion data suggesting

that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to view

childhood vaccines as unsafe. Although these differences

are substantively small and statistically not differentiable

from one another (Funk et al., 2015), they are consistent

with research suggesting that parents who self-identify as

1022639APRXXX10.1177/1532673X211022639American Politics ResearchMotta

research-article2021

1Oklahoma State University System, Stillwater, USA

Corresponding Author:

Matthew Motta, Oklahoma State University System, 210 Social Science

and Humanities Building, Stillwater, OK 74076-1749, USA.

Email: matthew.motta@okstate.edu

Republicans, Not Democrats, Are

More Likely to Endorse Anti-Vaccine

Misinformation

Matthew Motta1

Abstract

Vaccine safety skeptics are often thought to be more likely to self-identify as Democrats (vs. Independents or Republicans).

Recent studies, however, suggest that childhood vaccine misinformation is either more common among Republicans, or

is uninfluenced by partisan identification (PID). Uncertainty about the partisan underpinnings of vaccine misinformation

acceptance is important, as it could complicate efforts to pursue pro-vaccine health policies. I theorize that Republicans

should be more likely to endorse anti-vaccine misinformation, as they tend to express more-negative views toward scientific

experts. Across six demographically and nationally representative surveys, I find that—while few Americans think that “anti-

vaxxers” are more likely to be Republicans than Democrats—Republican PID is significantly associated with the belief that

childhood vaccines can cause autism. Consistent with theoretical expectations, effect is strongly mediated by anti-expert

attitudes—an effect which supplemental panel analyses suggest is unlikely to be reverse causal.

Keywords

vaccine skepticism, misinformation, political psychology, partisanship, public opinion