{"title":"Countering Misinformation and Fake News Through Inoculation and Prebunking","authors":"S. Lewandowsky, S. van der Linden","doi":"10.1080/10463283.2021.1876983","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT There has been increasing concern with the growing infusion of misinformation, or “fake news”, into public discourse and politics in many western democracies. Our article first briefly reviews the current state of the literature on conventional countermeasures to misinformation. We then explore proactive measures to prevent misinformation from finding traction in the first place that is based on the psychological theory of “inoculation”. Inoculation rests on the idea that if people are forewarned that they might be misinformed and are exposed to weakened examples of the ways in which they might be misled, they will become more immune to misinformation. We review a number of techniques that can boost people’s resilience to misinformation, ranging from general warnings to more specific instructions about misleading (rhetorical) techniques. We show that based on the available evidence, inoculation appears to be a promising avenue to help protect people from misinformation and “fake news”.","PeriodicalId":47582,"journal":{"name":"European Review of Social Psychology","volume":"32 1","pages":"348 - 384"},"PeriodicalIF":10.1000,"publicationDate":"2021-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10463283.2021.1876983","citationCount":"204","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Review of Social Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2021.1876983","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 204
Abstract
ABSTRACT There has been increasing concern with the growing infusion of misinformation, or “fake news”, into public discourse and politics in many western democracies. Our article first briefly reviews the current state of the literature on conventional countermeasures to misinformation. We then explore proactive measures to prevent misinformation from finding traction in the first place that is based on the psychological theory of “inoculation”. Inoculation rests on the idea that if people are forewarned that they might be misinformed and are exposed to weakened examples of the ways in which they might be misled, they will become more immune to misinformation. We review a number of techniques that can boost people’s resilience to misinformation, ranging from general warnings to more specific instructions about misleading (rhetorical) techniques. We show that based on the available evidence, inoculation appears to be a promising avenue to help protect people from misinformation and “fake news”.
期刊介绍:
The "European Review of Social Psychology (ERSP)" is a distinguished international journal that operates under the patronage of the European Association of Social Psychology. It serves as a platform for comprehensive, theory-driven reviews that cover the broad spectrum of social psychology. The journal is open to submissions from authors worldwide and is guided by a prestigious international editorial board.
ERSP is particularly interested in publishing reviews that reflect the author's own research program, as demonstrated by their publications in leading peer-reviewed journals. The journal values theoretical contributions that are grounded in a substantial empirical foundation, situating the research within the broader context of existing literature and offering a synthesis that goes beyond the individual articles.
In addition to these in-depth reviews, ERSP also welcomes conventional reviews and meta-analyses, further enriching the journal's offerings. By focusing on high-quality, evidence-based research, ERSP contributes significantly to the advancement of knowledge in social psychology and fosters a deeper understanding of human social behavior across cultures and societies.