Jennifer Taber, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences at Kent State University, was featured in two articles this August for her research on how to properly acknowledge and approach people's uncertainty pertaining to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Throughout the pandemic, people have been faced with making tough decisions regarding risks and safety. Now with the COVID vaccine, they have even more decisions to consider. With the loads of misinformation, media blasts and political influence, many people feel manipulated, controlled and confused leading them to remain unvaccinated despite the overall benefits.
“When people feel like things are uncertain, they engage in avoidance,” Taber told The Atlantic.
Taber’s work centers around understanding peoples’ different perceptions on disease risk and health behavior. Her research is based on her interest on how to provide correct risk information in hopes of creating behavior changes, especially when it comes to those who have chosen not to get the COVID vaccine.
To read the articles, visit https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kvjx4/convincing-unvaccinated-elderly-parents-to-get-their-covid-shots and https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/08/delta-variant-pandemic-risk-safety/619798/.