Symbolic Universes, Semiotic Capital and Health. A Semiotic Cultural Psychological Analysis of the Vaccination Hesitancy Phenomenon in Italy

The Semiotic Cultural Psychological Theory (hereafter SCPT; Salvatore 2016; Valsiner 2007, 2014; see also Chap. 2 in this volume) is a comprehensive theoretical perspective that makes it clear that both the individual psychological functioning and the macro socio-political dynamics are culturally-rooted. According to SCPT, the variety of political, economic, environmental and social challenges affecting contemporary societies can be fully comprehended and interpreted using the concepts of cultural milieu and symbolic universes (Salvatore et al. 2018a; see also Chap. 3). More precisely, both these concepts account for the interconnection and interdependence of the many turbulences occurring at global and local level and the variability of people’s thoughts, actions, and feelings within a certain cultural milieu (Salvatore et al. 2018b). Accordingly, any change in people’s behaviours, thoughts and feelings can be comprehended in the light of the salience of the symbolic universes characterizing a given cultural milieu.