Matthew Motta | Profiles RNS

Matthew Motta, PhD

Assistant Professor

Boston University School of Public Health

Health Law, Policy & Management

PhD, University of Minnesota
BA, Wesleyan University

Pronouns: he/him/his

Websites

	Personal Website
	ResearchGate
	Google Scholar

ORCID : 0000-0002-2824-6833

Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy, & Management at Boston University's School of Public Health.

Previously, I was Assistant Professor of Political Science (American Politics, Research Methods) at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK. Before that, I was a Science of Science Communication postdoctoral fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (University of Pennsylvania). I was also based at the Yale Law School, where I was an affiliated postdoctoral scholar at the Cultural Cognition Project.

I received my PhD in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, where I was also a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow and Doctoral Dissertation Fellow. My research investigates the social and political determinants of anti-science attitudes, and assesses their health policy consequences. I then aim to use insights from this work to devise (and evaluate the effectiveness of) strategic communication efforts to correct health misinformation, and promote vaccine uptake.

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

Motta M, Callaghan T, Trujillo KL. "The CDC Won't Let Me Be": The Opinion Dynamics of Support for CDC Regulatory Authority. J Health Polit Policy Law. 2023 Jul 07. PMID: 37497881

Motta M, Benegal S. How pandemic-related changes in global attitudes toward the scientific community shape "post-pandemic" environmental opinion. Public Underst Sci. 2023 May 19; 9636625231167735. PMID: 37204071; PMCID: PMC10200811; DOI: 10.1177/09636625231167735;

Motta M. The pre-political origins and policy consequences of environmental justice concern. Politics Life Sci. 2023 Mar; 41(2):182-199. PMID: 36880544

Motta M, Callaghan T, Lunz-Trujillo K, Lockman A. Erroneous Consonance. How inaccurate beliefs about physician opinion influence COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine. 2023 Mar 17; 41(12):2093-2099.View Related Profiles.

Motta, Matthew
Callaghan, Timothy

PMID: 36822967; PMCID: PMC9939402; DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.02.052;

Motta M. Is partisan conflict over COVID-19 vaccination eroding support for childhood vaccine mandates? NPJ Vaccines. 2023 Feb 02; 8(1):5. PMID: 36732345; PMCID: PMC9892671; DOI: 10.1038/s41541-023-00611-3;

Goidel, Kirby, Timothy Callaghan, David J. Washburn, Tasmiah Nuzhath, Julia Scobee, Abigail Spiegelman, and Matt Motta. Physician Trust in the News Media and Attitudes toward COVID-19. Journal of Health Politics, Policy, & Law. 2022. View Publication
Salil Benegal & Matt Motta. Overconfident, Resentful, and Misinformed: How Racial Animus Motivates Confidence in False Beliefs. Social Science Quarterly. 2022.
Matt Motta. The Correlates & Public Health Consequences of Prospective Vaccine Hesitancy Among Individuals who Received COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters in the U.S. Vaccines. 2022. View Publication

Motta M. The Correlates & Public Health Consequences of Prospective Vaccine Hesitancy among Individuals Who Received COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters in the U.S. Vaccines (Basel). 2022 Oct 25; 10(11). PMID: 36366300; PMCID: PMC9698316; DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10111791;

Kobayashi, Yoshiharu, Christopher Howell, Tobias Heinrich, & Matt Motta. Investigating how historical legacies of militarized violence can motivate COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: Evidence from global dyadic survey. Social Science & Medicine. 2022. View Publication

Showing 10 of 58 results. Show More

Kobayashi Y, Howell C, Heinrich T, Motta M. Investigating how historical legacies of militarized violence can motivate COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: Evidence from global dyadic survey. Soc Sci Med. 2022 Sep 06; 311:115346. PMID: 36108562; PMCID: PMC9446603; DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115346;

Sylvester S, Motta M, Trujillo KL, Callaghan T. Vaccinating across the aisle: using co-partisan source cues to encourage COVID-19 vaccine uptake in the ideological right. J Behav Med. 2023 Apr; 46(1-2):311-323.View Related Profiles.

Motta, Matthew
Callaghan, Timothy

PMID: 35543897; PMCID: PMC9092938; DOI: 10.1007/s10865-022-00323-4;

Smith B, Knapp E, Motta M. Complementary or Competing Frames? The Impact of Economic and Public Health Messages on COVID-19 Attitudes. The Journal of Experimental Political Science. 2022.

Callaghan T, Washburn D, Goidel K, Nuzhath T, Spiegelman A, Scobee J, Moghtaderi A, Motta M. Imperfect messengers? An analysis of vaccine confidence among primary care physicians. Vaccine. 2022 04 20; 40(18):2588-2603.View Related Profiles.

Motta, Matthew
Callaghan, Timothy

PMID: 35315324; PMCID: PMC8931689; DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.03.025;

Stecula D, Motta M, Kuru O, Hall Jamieson K. The Great and Powerful (Dr.) Oz? Alternative Medical Media Consumption & Anti-Vaccine Views in the United States. Journal of Communication. 2022.
Motta MP. The Pre-Political Origins & Policy Consequences of Environmental Justice Concern. Politics and Life Sciences. 2022.
Callaghan T, Washburn D, Goidel K, Nuzhath T, Spiegelman A, Scobee J, Mogthaderi A, Motta M. Vaccine Confidence among Primary Care Physicians during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States. Vaccine. 2022.

Motta M, Stecula D. Quantifying the effect of Wakefield et al. (1998) on skepticism about MMR vaccine safety in the U.S. PLoS One. 2021; 16(8):e0256395. PMID: 34411172; PMCID: PMC8376023; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256395;

Motta M. Can a COVID-19 vaccine live up to Americans' expectations? A conjoint analysis of how vaccine characteristics influence vaccination intentions. Soc Sci Med. 2021 Mar; 272:113642. PMID: 33414031; PMCID: PMC7832269; DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113642;

Callaghan T, Moghtaderi A, Lueck JA, Hotez P, Strych U, Dor A, Fowler EF, Motta M. Correlates and disparities of intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. Soc Sci Med. 2021 03; 272:113638.View Related Profiles.

Motta, Matthew
Callaghan, Timothy

PMID: 33414032; PMCID: PMC7834845; DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113638;

Jansa J, Motta M, Herrick R. Finding DORI: Using Item Response Theory to Measure Difficulty of Registration in the U.S. and Its Impact on Voters. American Politics Research. 2021.
Wynes S, Donner S, Motta M. Understanding the Climate Responsibility Associated with Elections. One Earth (Cell Press). 2021.
Lunz-Trujillo K, Motta M. How Misinformation Access Drives Global Vaccine Skepticism. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. 2021.
Motta MP, Goren P. Apolitical Values & Compliance with Government-Recommended Social Distancing Behavior. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, & Parties. 2021.
Motta MP, Callaghan T, Sylvester S, Lunz-Trujilo K. Identifying the Prevalence, Correlates, and Policy Consequences of Anti-Vaccine Social Identity. Politics, Groups, & Identities. 2021.
Motta MP. Can a COVID-19 Vaccine Live up to Americans’ Expectations? A Conjoint Analysis of how Vaccine Characteristics Influence Vaccination Intentions. Social Science & Medicine. 2021.
Motta MP. Republicans, not Democrats, are More Likely to Endorse Anti-Vaccine Misinformation. American Politics Research. 2021.
Motta MP, Sylvester S, Callaghan T, Lunz-Trujillo K. Encouraging COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake through Effective Health Communication. Special Issue: Frontiers in Political Science – Politics of Technology. 2021.

Motta M. Could concern about climate change increase demand for a Lyme disease vaccine in the U.S.? Vaccine. 2020 Sep 11; 38(40):6191-6193. PMID: 32762870

Motta M, Callaghan T. The pervasiveness and policy consequences of medical folk wisdom in the U.S. Sci Rep. 2020 07 01; 10(1):10722.View Related Profiles.

Motta, Matthew
Callaghan, Timothy

PMID: 32612260; PMCID: PMC7329847; DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-67744-6;

Motta M. Applications & critical reflections on the VANMaN taxonomy. Soc Sci Med. 2020 08; 259:112850. PMID: 32085911; DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112850;

Motta MP. Could Climate Change Concern Increase Demand for a Lyme Disease Vaccine?. Vaccine. 2020.
Motta MP, Stecula D, Farhart C. How Right-Leaning Media Coverage of COVID-19 Facilitated the Spread of Misinformation in the Early Stages of the Pandemic. Canadian Journal of Political Science. 2020.
Motta MP. Political Scientists? The Characteristics and Performance of Congressional Candidates with STEM Backgrounds. PS: Political Science & Politics. 2020.
Lunz-Trujilo K, Motta M, Callaghan T, Sylvester S. Misinformation about the MMR Vaccine: Identifying Psychological Risk Factors and Effective Corrective Communication Strategies. Political Research Quarterly. 2020.
Goren PN, Motta M, Smith B. The Ideational Foundations of Symbolic Ideology. Advances in Political Psychology. 2020.
Ralston RJ, Motta M, Spindel J. When OK is Not OK: Public Concern About White Nationalism in the US Military. Armed Forces & Society. 2020.
Motta MP. Changing Minds or Changing Samples? Disentangling Micro-Level Stability and Macro-Level Growth in Anthropogenic Climate Change (ACC) Beliefs. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. 2020.
Motta MP. Campaign Advertising & Political Representation in the United States. Voting & Political Representation in America: Issues and Trends. 2020.
Motta MP, Ralston R, Spindel J. A Call to Arms? The opinion dynamics and policy implications of climate change concern in the US military. Environmental Communication. 2020.
Goren P, Motta M. Values and Political Judgment: A New Approach. At the Forefront of Political Psychology: Essays in Honor of John L. Sullivan. 2020.
Goren PN, Smith B, Motta M. Basic Human Values and Sophistication Interaction Theory. Political Behavior. 2020.

Haglin K, Chapman D, Motta M, Kahan D. How Localized Outbreaks and Changes in Media Coverage Affect Zika Attitudes in National and Local Contexts. Health Commun. 2020 11; 35(13):1686-1697. PMID: 31475575; DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2019.1662556;

Callaghan T, Motta M, Sylvester S, Lunz Trujillo K, Blackburn CC. Parent psychology and the decision to delay childhood vaccination. Soc Sci Med. 2019 10; 238:112407.View Related Profiles.

Motta, Matthew
Callaghan, Timothy

PMID: 31366444; DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112407;

Motta MP, Rohrman A. Quaking in their Boots? Seismic Risk Perceptions and Support for Preventative Public Policy. Behavioural Public Policy. 2019.
Motta MP, Chapman D, Stecula D, Haglin K. A Framework for Understanding Disparities in the Measurement of Climate Change Beliefs. Climatic Change. 2019.
Callaghan TH, Motta M, Lunz-Trujilo K, Sylvester S, Blackburn C. Better Safe than Sorry: How Parent Psychology Influences the Decision to Delay Childhood Vaccination. Social Science & Medicine. 2019.
Motta MP, Chapman D, Haglin K, Kahan D . Reducing the Administrative Demands of the Science Curiosity Scale (SCS): A Validation Study. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. 2019.

Motta M. Explaining science funding attitudes in the United States: The case for science interest. Public Underst Sci. 2019 Feb; 28(2):161-176. PMID: 30156123; DOI: 10.1177/0963662518795397;

Motta M, Callaghan T, Sylvester S. Knowing less but presuming more: Dunning-Kruger effects and the endorsement of anti-vaccine policy attitudes. Soc Sci Med. 2018 08; 211:274-281.View Related Profiles.

Motta, Matthew
Callaghan, Timothy

PMID: 29966822; DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.06.032;

Motta MP. The Polarizing Effects of the March for Science on Attitudes Toward Scientists. PS: Political Science & Politics. 2018.
Motta MP. The Enduring Effect of Scientific Interest on Trust in Climate Scientists in the U.S. Nature Climate Change. 2018. View Publication
Motta MP. The Dynamics and Implications of Anti-Intellectualism in the United States. American Politics Research. 2017. View Publication
Smith B, Murib Z, Motta M, Callaghan T, Theys M. Gay or Homosexual? The Implications of Social Category Labels for the Structure of Mass Attitudes. American Politics Research. 2017. View Publication
Luttig M, Motta MP. President Obama on the Ballot: Referendum Voting and Racial Spillover in the 2014 Midterm Elections. Electoral Studies. 2017. View Publication
Motta M, Callaghan T, Smith B. Looking for Answers: Identifying Search Behavior & Improving Knowledge-Based Data Quality in Online Surveys. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. 2016. View Publication
Motta M, Franklin Fowler E. The Content and Effect of Political Advertising in Campaigns. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. 2016.
Motta MP. What Do Interviewer Intelligence Ratings Actually Measure?. Research & Politics. 2016. View Publication

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 58 publications over 8 distinct years, with a maximum of 14 publications in 2020

Bar chart showing 58 publications over 8 distinct years, with a maximum of 14 publications in 2020

Year	Publications
2016	3
2017	3
2018	4
2019	6
2020	14
2021	11
2022	12
2023	5

Media Mentions

Recent (within 3 months)

Majority of US Dog Owners Hesitant About Canine Vaccines, Study Finds

US News & World Report 9/12/2023

Majority of US dog owners hesitant about canine vaccines, study finds

Reuters 9/12/2023

Anti-Vax Trend May Harm Pet Dogs, With Half of Owners Against Immunization

US News & World Report 9/7/2023

Nearly half of dog owners are hesitant to vaccinate their pups

Futurity 9/1/2023

Woof! Anti-vaxxer pet owners nix rabies shots over doggie ‘autism’ fears: study

New York Post 8/30/2023

More than half of dog owners are suspicious of rabies and other vaccines, new study finds

USA Today 8/30/2023

Anti-vaxxers extend their fears to Fido

The Boston Globe 8/28/2023

Older

How the Mixed Messaging of Vaccine Skeptics Sows Seeds of Doubt

WFMZ 6/8/2023

CDC didn’t say it gave out deadly COVID-19 shots in red states

Associated Press 4/20/2023

Is partisan conflict over COVID-19 vaccination eroding support for childhood vaccine mandates? (

Nature 2/2/2023

What Issues Will Decide the 2022 Midterm Elections?

BU Today 11/1/2022

Money Doesn't Motivate Vaccine Holdouts

Bloomberg 10/11/2022

2022 General Social Survey 2022 Module Competition: Winner

2021 APSA: Health Politics & Policy: Leonard S. Robins Award (Best Paper)

2021 Vox's The Weeds: Paper of The Week

2021 Module Competition: Most All-Time Reads, Conversation US Author

2020 American Political Science Association: Early Career Scholar Feature

2020 Oklahama State Universe: “Research at a Glance" newsletter feature

2019 Publons: Top Reviewer Award

2019 Oklahoma State University College of Arts and Scientists: "Faculty Scholar Spotlight" feature

2019 United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR): "“PreventionWeb" feature

2018 Elsevier: Atlas Award

In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

Health Policy
Misinformation
Health Communication
Public Opinion
Survey Methods
Experimental Design
Public Policy

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