Prof. Dr. Cornelia Betsch

Our research aims to help design effective policy frameworks and good, explanatory communication. To do this, we try to understand as comprehensively as possible what influences climate-friendly behaviour in order to find good levers.

Cornelia Betsch is a psychologist and professor of health communication at the University of Erfurt. She is also head of the Health Communication Working Group at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg. Her research includes social aspects in health decisions, especially in the context of vaccination and vaccination opposition. During the Corona pandemic, she initiated the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring (COSMO) followed by the Planetary Health Action Survey (PACE), which generates insights into people's knowledge, risk perceptions, protective behaviors, and trust regarding the Corona and now climate crisis. She received the German Psychology Prize in 2021 and the Thuringian Research Prize in 2022. She presently is a member of the German government’s COVID-19 Expert Advisory Council, as well as the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Behavioral and Cultural Insights and the Interdisciplinary Commission for Pandemic Research of the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Selected Publications

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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. (2020). Behavioural science data can help mitigate the COVID-19 crisis. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0866-1.

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 .

Betsch, C., Bach Habersaat, K., Deshevoi, S., Heinemeier, D., Briko, N., Kostenko, N., Kocik, J., Böhm, R., Zettler, I., Wiysonge, C. S., Dubé, È., Gagneur, A., Botelho-Nevers, E., Gagneux-Brunon, A., & Sivelä, J. (2020). Sample study protocol for adapting and translating the 5C scale to assess the psychological antecedents of vaccination. BMJ Open, 10(3), e034869. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-034869

Omer, S. B., Betsch, C., & Leask, J. (2019). Mandate vaccination with care. Nature, 571(7766), 469–472. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02232-0

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 Materials

Betsch, C. & Böhm, R. (2018). Explaining herd immunity makes moral values regarding harm and fairness relevant for vaccination decisions. Nature Human Behaviour.

Wiysonge, C.S., Cooper, S., Sambala , E.Z. & Betsch, C. (2018). Vaccine hesitancy - a potential threat to the achievements of vaccination programmes in Africa. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 14(10):2355-2357.

Betsch, C. (2017). Advocating for vaccination in a climate of science denial. Nature Microbiology, 2, 17106.

Betsch, C., Böhm, R., Korn, L., & Holtmann, C. (2017). On the benefits of explaining herd immunity in vaccine advocacy. Nature Human Behaviour, doi:10.1038/s41562-017-0056.

Korn, L., Betsch, C., Böhm, R., & Meier, N. (2017). Communicating high vaccine rates of refugees: How the best intentions can lead to harm. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 17, 364–365.

Böhm, R., Betsch, C. & Korn, L. (2016). Selfish-Rational Non-Vaccination: Experimental Evidence from an Interactive Vaccination Game. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 131, 183-195.

Betsch, C. & Böhm, R. (2016). Detrimental Effects of Introducing Partial Compulsory Vaccination: Experimental Evidence. European Journal of Public Health, 26(3):378-81. 

Betsch, C., Korn, L., Holtmann, C. (2015). Don’t try to convert the anti-vaccinators, instead target the fence-sitters. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, PNAS, 112(49): E6725–E6726.