Inoculation Theory and Public Policy

This chapter focuses on inoculation theory's application in public policy debates, including public support for public policy and its antecedents, in a competitive and often asymmetrical public information environment. In numerous studies, inoculation has shown promise as a strategy to protect and change public attitudes toward contested policy issues that include drug/substance distribution and use, gun control, climate change, restrictions of violent content on TV, and legalization of gambling, to name a few. By focusing exclusively on inoculation studies about public policy issues, we illustrate how this literature has explored different types of inoculation, the message components involved in those studies, the underlying psychological processes of inoculation effects on policy-related attitudes, and moderators of inoculation effects at the message and individual levels. Informed by these observations, we suggest future research directions at the intersection of inoculation theory and public policy.