There’s still a lot to work out about this theory, but here’s what we’re thinking now: We gain a lot by keeping the analogy of inoculation theory in mind as we work toward building better inoculation messaging, application, and theorizing.

Josh Compton & Sander Van Der Linden

Models from epidemiology are increasingly used to better understand how misinformation spreads in online networks. If misinformation behaves like a virus, invading a susceptible host and rapidly spreading from one mind to another, then the development of a psychological vaccine seems essential. Luckily, there is a science of mental immunity and there’s a lot to like about the analogy at the heart of much mental immunity research: inoculation theory. Inoculation theory’s analogic namesake tells us what inoculation theory does and explains a good deal of how it’s doing it, and we think it’s doing it well. The analogy is of value to scholars beginning to do work with this theory as a heuristic and as a primer, and it’s of value to the most senior inoculation scholars as a springboard for theoretical advancement and innovative applications. And it’s of value in these ways for many of the same reasons: it’s clear, it’s accurate, and it’s inspiring.

So let’s think a bit more about the analogy of inoculation theory—how medical inoculation against viruses can parallel inoculation against (misleading) arguments, and let’s also consider the analogy and inoculation theory—what we learn about inoculation theory by studying its moniker, and what we learn about analogic reasoning by keeping it in mind when we do inoculation theory work.

Compton, J., & van der Linden, S. (2022, December 13). The analogy of/and inoculation theory to mental immunity. This View of Life. Available: https://thisviewoflife.com/the-analogy-of-and-inoculation-theory-to-mental-immunity/