School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 5;20(2):980. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20020980.
The COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by the rapid spread of misinformation through social media platforms. This study attempted to develop an online fake news game based on the inoculation theory, applicable to the pandemic context, and aimed at enhancing misinformation discrimination. It also tested whether perceived threat and persuasion knowledge serve as underlying mechanisms of the effects of the intervention on misinformation discrimination. In Study 1, we used online priming to examine the influence of inoculation on misinformation discrimination. In Study 2, we developed an online fake-news-game-based intervention and attempted to validate its effectiveness through a randomized controlled trial while also exploring the mediating roles of perceived threat and persuasion knowledge. In Study 1, brief inoculation information priming significantly enhanced the ability to recognize misinformation (F(2.502) = 8.321, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.032). In Study 2, the five-day game-based intervention significantly enhanced the ability to recognize misinformation (F(2.322) = 3.301, p = 0.038, ηp2 = 0.020). The mediation effect of persuasion knowledge was significant (β = 0.025, SE = 0.016, 95% CI = [0.034, 0.075]), while that of perceived threat was not significant. Online interventions based on the inoculation theory are effective in enhancing misinformation discrimination, and one of the underlying mechanisms of this effect lies in its promotion of persuasion knowledge.
COVID-19 大流行伴随着通过社交媒体平台快速传播错误信息。本研究试图开发一种基于接种理论、适用于大流行背景、旨在增强错误信息识别能力的在线假新闻游戏，并检验感知威胁和说服知识是否是干预对错误信息识别影响的潜在机制。在研究 1 中，我们使用在线启动来检验接种对错误信息识别的影响。在研究 2 中，我们开发了一个基于在线假新闻游戏的干预措施，并试图通过随机对照试验验证其有效性，同时还探索了感知威胁和说服知识的中介作用。在研究 1 中，简短的接种信息启动显著增强了识别错误信息的能力（F(2.502) = 8.321，p < 0.001，ηp2 = 0.032）。在研究 2 中，为期五天的基于游戏的干预显著增强了识别错误信息的能力（F(2.322) = 3.301，p = 0.038，ηp2 = 0.020）。说服知识的中介效应显著（β = 0.025，SE = 0.016，95%CI = [0.034，0.075]），而感知威胁的中介效应不显著。基于接种理论的在线干预措施在增强错误信息识别方面是有效的，其潜在机制之一在于它促进了说服知识。
