Understanding and combatting misinformation across 16 countries on six continents

Antonio A. Arechar, Jennifer Allen, Adam J. Berinsky, Rocky Cole, Ziv Epstein, Kiran Garimella, Andrew Gully, Jackson G. Lu, Robert M. Ross, Michael N. Stagnaro, Yunhao Zhang, Gordon Pennycook () and David G. Rand ()
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Antonio A. Arechar: Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE)
Jennifer Allen: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Adam J. Berinsky: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Rocky Cole: Google
Ziv Epstein: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kiran Garimella: Rutgers University
Andrew Gully: Google
Jackson G. Lu: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Robert M. Ross: Macquarie University
Michael N. Stagnaro: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Yunhao Zhang: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Gordon Pennycook: University of Regina
David G. Rand: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nature Human Behaviour, 2023, vol. 7, issue 9, 1502-1513

Abstract: Abstract The spread of misinformation online is a global problem that requires global solutions. To that end, we conducted an experiment in 16 countries across 6 continents (N = 34,286; 676,605 observations) to investigate predictors of susceptibility to misinformation about COVID-19, and interventions to combat the spread of this misinformation. In every country, participants with a more analytic cognitive style and stronger accuracy-related motivations were better at discerning truth from falsehood; valuing democracy was also associated with greater truth discernment, whereas endorsement of individual responsibility over government support was negatively associated with truth discernment in most countries. Subtly prompting people to think about accuracy had a generally positive effect on the veracity of news that people were willing to share across countries, as did minimal digital literacy tips. Finally, aggregating the ratings of our non-expert participants was able to differentiate true from false headlines with high accuracy in all countries via the ‘wisdom of crowds’. The consistent patterns we observe suggest that the psychological factors underlying the misinformation challenge are similar across different regional settings, and that similar solutions may be broadly effective.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01641-6

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