Background
Former research associate Philipp Schmid is now Assistant Professor of Health Communication at Radboud University in Nijmegen, NL. He aims to analyse the impact of messages of science denialism on individuals’ health decision-making and to design interventions to reduce their persuasive influence.
Science denialism is an approach that has the ultimate goal of rejecting a proposition on which a scientific consensus exists. In the age of mass media, science denialism has multiplied its reach and availability, threatening the acceptance and lifesaving use of health-treatments and prevention behavior – e.g. HIV-treatments or vaccines. Deniers use different techniques, such as conspiracy theories or false logic, to promote their messages of science denial.
To understand the impact of messages of science denialism on individuals’ health decisions, Philipp Schmid applies an empirical judgement and decision-making perspective. In addition, he uses literature from the fields of debunking, inoculation and rebuttal to design and test promising interventions. His aim is to generate basic research findings applicable to recommendations and guidelines for health authorities.
Philipp Schmid's personal website
Areas of expertise: psychology, health decision-making, persuasion, mis-disinformation, science denialism
Publications
An overview of Philipp Schmid's current research projects and publications of the Assistant Professor of Health Communication at Radboud University, Nijmegen can be found here.
- Schmid, P. (2023). Using Behavioral Science for Infodemic Preparedness: The Case of Vaccination Misinformation. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322231219684
- Schmid, P. & Werner, B. (2023). Hostility has a trivial effect on persuasiveness of rebutting science denialism on social media. Communications Psychology, 2023 (1):39. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-023-00041-w
- Soveri A, Karlsson LC, Mäki KO, Holford D, Fasce A, Schmid P, Antfolk J, Karlsson L, Karlsson H, Nolvi S, Karukivi M, Lindfelt M, Lewandowsky S. (2023). Trait reactance as psychological motivation to reject vaccination: Two longitudinal studies and one experimental study. Applied Psychology, Health and Well Being. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12506
- Lewandowsky, S., Schmid, P., Habersaat, K.B., Nielsen, S.M., Seale, H., Betsch, C., Böhm, R., Geiger, M., Craig, B., Sunstein, C., Sah, S., MacDonald, N.E., Dube, E., Fancourt, D., Larson, H.J., Jackson, C., Mazhnaya, A., Dutta, M., Fountoulakis, K.N., Kachkachishvili, I., Soveri, A., Caserotti, M., Őri, D., De Girolamo, G., Rodriguez-Blazquez, C., Falcón, M., Romay-Barja, M., Forjaz, M.J., Blomquist, S.E., Appelqvist, E., Temkina, A., Lieberoth, A., Harvey, T.S., Holford, D., Fasce, A., Van Damme, P. & Danchin, M. (2023). Lessons from COVID-19 for behavioural and communication interventions to enhance vaccine uptake. Communications Psychology, (1):35. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-023-00036-7
- Karlsson, L.C., Garrison, A., Holford, D., Fasce, A., Lewandowsky, S., Taubert, F., Schmid, P., Betsch, C., Rodrigues, F., Fressard, L., Verger, P. & Soveri, A. (2023). Healthcare professionals’ attitudes to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. Cross-sectional survey data from four European countries. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 19 (2):2256442. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2023.2256442
- Fasce, A., Schmid, P., Holford, D. L., Bates, L., Gurevych, I., & Lewandowsky, S. (2023). A taxonomy of anti-vaccination arguments from a systematic literature review and text modelling. Nature Human Behaviour, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01644-3
- Fasce, A., Karlsson, L., Verger, P., Mäki, O., Taubert, F., Garrison, A., Schmid, P., … & Soveri, A. (2023). Endorsement of alternative medicine and vaccine hesitancy among physicians: A cross-sectional study in four European countries. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 19(2), 2242748. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2023.2242748
- Schmid, P., Altay, S. & Scherer, L. (2023). The Psychological lmpacts and Message Features of Health Misinformation: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. European Psychologist. 28, 162-172 https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000494
- Holford, D., Fasce, A., Tapper, K., Demko, M., Lewandowsky, S., Hahn, U., … & Wulf, M. (2023). Science Communication as a Collective Intelligence Endeavor: A Manifesto and Examples for Implementation. Science Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470231162634
- Mäki, K. O., Karlsson, L. C., Kaakinen, J. K., Schmid, P., Lewandowsky, S., Antfolk, J., & Soveri, A. (2023). Tailoring interventions to suit self-reported format preference does not decrease vaccine hesitancy. Plos one, 18(3), e0283030. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283030
- Thumbeck, S., Schmid, P., Chesneau, S. & Domahs, F. (2023). Efficacy of reading strategies on text-level reading comprehension in people with post-stroke chronic aphasia: A repeated measures study. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12983
- Terry, J., Ross, R. M., Nagy, T., Salgado, M., Garrido-Vásquez, P., Sarfo, J. O., Cooper, S., Buttner, A. C., Lima, T. J. S., Öztürk, İ., Akay, N., Santos, F. H., Artemenko, C., Copping, L. T., Elsherif, M. M., Milovanović, I., Cribbie, R. A., Drushlyak, M. G., Swainston, K., . . . Field, A. P. (2023). Data from an International Multi-Centre Study of Statistics and Mathematics Anxieties and Related Variables in University Students (the SMARVUS Dataset). Journal of Open Psychology Data, 11(1), Article 8. https://doi.org/10.5334/jopd.80
- Betsch, C., Schmid, P., Verger, P., Lewandowsky, S., Soveri, A., Hertwig, R., Fasce, A., Holford, D., De Raeve, P., Gagneur, A., Vuolanto, P., Correia, T., Tavoschi, L., Declich, S., Marceca, M., Linos, A., Karnaki, P., Karlsson, L., Garrison, A. (2022). A call for immediate action to increase COVID-19 vaccination uptake to prepare for the third pandemic winter. Nature Communication,13(1):7511. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34995-y
- Schmid, P., & Betsch, C. (2022). Benefits and Pitfalls of Debunking Interventions to Counter mRNA Vaccination Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Science Communication, 10755470221129608. https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470221129608
- Kessler, S.H., & Schmid, P. (2022). Editorial: Mis- and Disinformation About Covid-19 – Challenges for Health Communication. European Journal of Health Communication, 3(2), I-VI. https://doi.org/10.47368/ejhc.2022.200
- Lewandowsky, S., Holford, D., & Schmid, P. (2022). Public policy and conspiracies: The case of mandates. Current Opinion in Psychology, 101427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101427
- Jörling, M., Eitze, S., Schmid, P., Betsch, C., Allen, J., & Böhm, R. (2022). To disclose or not to disclose? Factors related to the willingness to disclose information to a COVID-19 tracing app. Information, Communication & Society, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2050418
- Garrison, A., Fressard, L., Karlsson, L., Soveri, A., Fasce, A., Lewandowsky, S., … & Verger, P. (2022). Measuring psychosocial determinants of vaccination behavior in healthcare professionals: validation of the Pro-VC-Be short-form questionnaire. Expert Review of Vaccines, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/14760584.2022.2108800
- Lewandowsky, S., Armaos, K., Bruns, H., Schmid, P., Holford, D. L., Hahn, U., Al-Rawi, A., Sah, S., & Cook, J. (2022). When Science Becomes Embroiled in Conflict: Recognizing the Public’s Need for Debate while Combating Conspiracies and Misinformation. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 700(1), 26–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162221084663
- Verger, P., Fressard, L., Soveri, A., Dauby, N., Fasce, A., Karlsson, L., Lewandoswky, S., Schmid, P., Dube, E., & Gagneur, A. (2022). An instrument to measure psychosocial determinants of health care professionals’ vaccination behavior: Validation of the Pro-VC-Be questionnaire. Expert Review of Vaccines. https://doi.org/10.1080/14760584.2022.2046467
- Vivion, M., Anassour Laouan Sidi, E., Betsch, C., Dionne, M., Dubé, E., Driedger, S. M., Schmid, P. … & Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN). (2022). Prebunking messaging to inoculate against COVID-19 vaccine misinformation: an effective strategy for public health. Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538068.2022.2044606
- Ecker, U. K., Lewandowsky, S., Cook, J., Schmid, P., Fazio, L. K., Brashier, N., … & Amazeen, M. A. (2022). The psychological drivers of misinformation belief and its resistance to correction. Nature Reviews Psychology, 1(1), 13-29. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-021-00006-y
- Rabe, J. E., Schillok, H., Merkel, C., Voss, S., Coenen, M., De Bock, F., … & Jung-Sievers, C. (2021). Belastung von Eltern mit Kindern im Schulalter während verschiedener Phasen der COVID-19-Pandemie in Deutschland: Eine Analyse der COVID-19-Snapshot-Monitoring-(COSMO‑) Daten. Bundesgesundheitsblatt-Gesundheitsforschung-Gesundheitsschutz, 64(12), 1500-1511. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00103-021-03453-3
- Thumbeck S., Schmid P., Chesneau S., Dohmas F. (2021). Efficacy of a strategy-based intervention on text-level reading comprehension in persons with aphasia: a study protocol for a repeated measures study. BMJ Open, 11:e048126. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-048126
- Betsch, C., Bosnjak, M., Korn, L., Burgard, T., Gaissmaier, W., Felgendreff, L., Eitze, S., Sprengholz, P., Böhm, R., Stollorz, V., Ramharter, M., Promies, N., De Bock, F., Schmid, P., Renner, B., & Wieler, L. (2021. The four weeks before lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: A weekly serial cross-sectional study on risk perceptions, knowledge, public trust and behaviours in March 2020. Eurosurveillance (Print). https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.42.2001900
- Lewandowsky, S., Cook, J., Ecker, U. K. H., Albarracín, D., Amazeen, M. A., Kendeou, P., Lombardi, D., Newman, E. J., Pennycook, G., Porter, E. Rand, D. G., Rapp, D. N., Reifler, J., Roozenbeek, J., Schmid, P., Seifert, C. M., Sinatra, G. M., Swire-Thompson, B., van der Linden, S., Vraga, E. K., Wood, T. J., Zaragoza, M. S. (2020). The Debunking Handbook 2020. Available at https://sks.to/db2020. DOI:10.17910/b7.1182
- Schmid, P., Schwarzer, M., & Betsch, C. (2020). Weight-of-Evidence Strategies to Mitigate the Influence of Messages of Science Denialism in Public Discussions. Journal of Cognition, 3(1), 36. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/joc.125
- Betsch, C., Korn, L., Sprengholz, P., Felgendreff, L., Eitze, S., Schmid, P., & Böhm, R. (2020). Social and behavioral consequences of mask policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. P Natl Acad Sci USA, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011674117.
- Habersaat, K., Betsch, C., Danchin, M., Sunstein, C., Böhm, R., Falk, A., Brewer, N.T., Omer, S.B., Scherzer, M., Sah, S., Fischer, E.F., Scheel, A.E., Fancourt, D., Kitayama, S., Dubé, E., Leask, J., Dutta, M., MacDonald, N.E., Temkina, A., Lieberoth, A., Jackson, M. Lewandowsky, S., Seale, H., Fiethe, N., Schmid, P., Gelfand, M., Korn, L., Eitze, S., Felgendreff, L. Sprengholz, P., Salvi, C., Butler, R (2020). Ten considerations for effectively managing the COVID-19 transition. Nat Hum Behav. doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0906-x
- Betsch, C., Wieler, L.H., Habersaat, K. and the COSMO group (2020). Rapid, flexible, cost-effective monitoring tool for behavioural insights related to COVID-19 across countries. The Lancet, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30729-7.
- The COSMO group for this paper are: Cornelia Betsch (PI), Lars Korn, Lisa Felgendreff, Sarah Eitze, Philipp Schmid, Philipp Sprengholz (University of Erfurt), Lothar H Wieler, Patrick Schmich (Robert Koch-Institute), Volker Stollorz (Science Media Center Germany), Michael Ramharter (Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine), Michael Bosnjak (Leibniz Institute for Psychology Information), Saad B. Omer (Yale Institute for Global Health), Katrine Habersaat, Martha Scherzer and Cristiana Salvi (WHO Regional Office for Europe).
- Schmid, P., & Betsch, C. (2019). Effective strategies for rebutting science denialism in public discussions. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0632-4
- Betsch, C., Böhm, R., Schmid, P., Korn, L., Steinmeyer, L., Heinemeier, D., Eitze, S. & Küpke, N.K. (2019). Impfverhalten psychologisch erklären, messen und verändern. Bundesgesundheitsblatt, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00103-019-02900-6
- Betsch, C., Schmid, P., Heinemeier, D., Korn, L., Holtmann, C., Böhm, R. (2018). Beyond confidence: Development of a measure assessing the 5C psychological antecedents of vaccination. PLoS ONE 13(12): e0208601. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208601 Open Data Open Material
- Betsch, C., Rossmann, C., Pletz, M.W., Vollmar, H.C., Freytag, A., Wichmann, O., Hanke, R., Hanke, W., Heinemeier, D., Schmid, P., Eitze, S., Weber, W., Reinhardt, A., Küpke, N.K., Forstner, C., Fleischmann-Struzek, C., Mikolajetz, A., Römhild, J., Neufeind, J., Rieck, T., Suchecka, K., Reinhart, K. (2018). Increasing influenza and pneumococcal vaccine uptake in the elderly: Study protocol for the multi-methods prospective intervention study Vaccination60+. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 885. doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5787-9
- Betsch, C., Bödeker, B., Schmid, P., & Wichmann, O. (2018). How baby’s first shot determines the development of maternal attitudes towards vaccination. Vaccine, 36(21), 3018-3026.
- Schmid, P., MacDonald, N. E., Habersaat, K., & Butler, R. (2018). Commentary to: How to respond to vocal vaccine deniers in public. Vaccine, 36, 196-198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.09.065
- Betsch, C., Schmid, P., Holtmann, C., Heinemeier, D. & Korn, L. (2018). Erklärung und Veränderung von Präventionsverhalten. In: Kohlmann, C.-W., Salewski, C., Wirtz, M. A. (Hrsg.) (2018). Psychologie in der Gesundheitsförderung. Bern: Hogrefe.
- Schmid, P., Rauber, D., Betsch, C., Lidolt, G., Denker, M.-L. (2017). Barriers of Influenza Vaccination Intention and Behavior – A Systematic Review of Influenza Vaccine Hesitancy, 2005 – 2016. PLoS ONE 12(1): e0170550. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170550 Open Data
- World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe (2017). Vaccination and trust - How concerns arise and the role of communication in mitigating crises. Authored by Cornelia Betsch, Constanze Rossmann, Katrine Bach-Habersaat, Philipp Schmid, Cindy Holtmann, Lars Korn, Jascha Wiehn, Linda Mummer.
- World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe (2016). Best practice guidance: How to respond to vocal vaccine deniers in public. Authored by Philipp Schmid, Noni MacDonald, Katrine Habersaat, Robb Butler.
- Betsch, C., Haase, N., Renkewitz, F. & Schmid, P. (2015). The narrative bias revisited: What drives the biasing influence of narrative information on risk perceptions? Judgment and Decision Making, 10, 241-264.
- Betsch, C. & Schmid, P. (2012). Angst essen Impfbereitschaft auf? Der Einfluss kognitiver und affektiver Faktoren auf die Risikowahrnehmung im Ausbruchsgeschehen. [The influence of cognitive and affective aspects of risk perception during outbreaks.] Bundesgesundheitsblatt, 56, 124-130.