Perception and Action Lab, Leibniz Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen 72076, Germany.
Applied Cognitive Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72076, Germany.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Oct 24;120(43):e2105425120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2105425120. Epub 2023 Oct 18.
Metacognition, our ability to reflect on our own beliefs, manifests itself in the confidence we have in these beliefs, and helps us guide our behavior in complex and uncertain environments. Here, we provide empirical tests of the importance of metacognition during the pandemic. Bayesian and frequentist analyses demonstrate that citizens with higher metacognitive sensitivity-where confidence differentiates correct from incorrect COVID-19 beliefs-reported higher willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19, and higher compliance with recommended public health measures. Notably, this benefit of accurate introspection held controlling for the accuracy of COVID-19 beliefs. By demonstrating how vaccination willingness and compliance may relate to insight into the varying accuracy of beliefs, rather than only the accuracy of the beliefs themselves, this research highlights the critical role of metacognitive ability in times of crisis. However, we do not find sufficient evidence to conclude that citizens with higher metacognitive sensitivity were more likely to comply with recommended public health measures when controlling for the absolute level of the confidence citizens had in their COVID-19 beliefs.
元认知，即我们对自己信念进行反思的能力，体现在我们对这些信念的信心上，帮助我们在复杂和不确定的环境中指导我们的行为。在这里，我们提供了元认知在大流行期间重要性的实证检验。贝叶斯和频率分析表明，元认知敏感性更高的公民——即信心能够区分正确和错误的 COVID-19 信念——报告了更高的接种 COVID-19 疫苗的意愿，以及更高的遵守推荐的公共卫生措施的意愿。值得注意的是，在控制 COVID-19 信念的准确性的情况下，这种准确的内省的好处仍然存在。通过证明接种意愿和遵守情况可能与对信念不同准确性的洞察力有关，而不仅仅是信念本身的准确性有关，这项研究强调了元认知能力在危机时期的关键作用。然而，我们没有找到足够的证据来得出结论，即当控制公民对 COVID-19 信念的信心的绝对水平时，元认知敏感性更高的公民更有可能遵守推荐的公共卫生措施。
