Citation

Chan MS, Jones CR, Hall Jamieson K, Albarracín D. Psychol. Sci. 2017; 28(11): 1531-1546.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Association for Psychological Science, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1177/0956797617714579

PMID

28895452

Abstract

This meta-analysis investigated the factors underlying effective messages to counter attitudes and beliefs based on misinformation. Because misinformation can lead to poor decisions about consequential matters and is persistent and difficult to correct, debunking it is an important scientific and public-policy goal. This meta-analysis ( k = 52, N = 6,878) revealed large effects for presenting misinformation ( ds = 2.41-3.08), debunking ( ds = 1.14-1.33), and the persistence of misinformation in the face of debunking ( ds = 0.75-1.06). Persistence was stronger and the debunking effect was weaker when audiences generated reasons in support of the initial misinformation. A detailed debunking message correlated positively with the debunking effect. Surprisingly, however, a detailed debunking message also correlated positively with the misinformation-persistence effect.

Language: en

Keywords

belief persistence/perseverance; continued influence; correction; misinformation; open data; science communication