We investigated the effectiveness of inoculation and self-affirmation interventions in neutralizing effects of health misinformation. Women (N=854) recruited via Prolific were randomly assigned to self-affirm (or not) and read an inoculation (versus control) message detailing five common attributes of misinformation. All participants read an article with misinformation about breast cancer screening and reported their reactions to the article. The inoculation (vs control) message reduced the negative effects of misinformation, as assessed by resistance-related measures, attitudes, and intentions. Experimentally induced self-affirmation did not show protective effects against misinformation, but the inoculation intervention was stronger among participants higher in self-reported spontaneous self-affirmation.
ArmitageC. J.HarrisP. R.ArdenM. A. (2011). Evidence that self-affirmation reduces alcohol consumption: Randomized exploratory trial with a new, brief means of self-affirming. Health Psychology, 30(5), 633–641. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023738
2.
ArpanL. M.LeeY. S.WangZ. (2017). Integrating self-affirmation with health risk messages: Effects on message evaluation and response. Health Communication, 32(2), 189–199. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2015.1113483
3.
BagoB.RandD. G.PennycookG. (2020). Fake news, fast and slow: Deliberation reduces belief in false (but not true) news headlines. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149, 1608–1613.
4.
BanasJ. A.MillerG. D. (2013). Inducing resistance to conspiracy theory propaganda: Testing inoculation and metainoculation strategies. Human Communication Research, 39, 184–207.
BasolM.RoozenbeekJ.van der LindenS. (2020). Good news about bad news: Gamified inoculation boosts confidence and cognitive immunity against fake news. Journal of Cognition, 3(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.91
7.
BrehmS.BrehmJ. (1981). Psychological reactance: A theory of freedom and control. Academic Press.
8.
BronsteinM. V.PennycookG.BearA.RandD. G.CannonT. D. (2019). Belief in fake news is associated with delusionality, dogmatism, religious fundamentalism, and reduced analytic thinking. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 8(1), 108–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2018.09.005
9.
BruderM.HaffkeP.NeaveN.NouripanahN.ImhoffR. (2013). Measuring individual differences in generic beliefs in conspiracy theories across cultures: Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, Article 225. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00225
10.
CarnahanD.HaoQ.JiangX.LeeH. (2018). Feeling fine about being wrong: The influence of self-affirmation on the effectiveness of corrective information. Human Communication Research, 44(3), 274–298. https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqy001
11.
ChouW. S.OhA.KleinW. M. P. (2018). Addressing health-related misinformation on social media. Journal of the American Medical Association, 320(23), 2417–2418. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.16865
12.
ClaytonK.BlairS.BusamJ. A.ForstnerS.GlanceJ.GreenG.KawataA.KovvuriA.MartinJ.MorganE.SandhuM.SangR.Scholz-BrightR.WelchA. T.WolffA. G.ZhouA.NyhanB. (2020). Real solutions for fake news? Measuring the effectiveness of general warnings and fact-check tags in reducing belief in false stories on social media. Political Behavior, 42, 1073–1095. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-019-09533-0
13.
CohenG. L.ShermanD. K. (2014). The psychology of change: Self-affirmation and social psychological intervention. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 333–371. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115137
14.
ComptonJ. (2013). Inoculation theory. In DillardJ. P.ShenL. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of persuasion: Developments in theory and practice (2nd ed., pp. 220–236). SAGE.
15.
ComptonJ.van der LindenS.CookJ.BasolM. (2021). Inoculation theory in the post-truth era: Extant findings and new frontiers for contested science, misinformation, and conspiracy theories. Social & Personality Psychology Compass, 15, Article e12602. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12602
16.
CookJ.LewandowskyS.EckerU. K. H. (2017). Neutralizing misinformation through inoculation: Exposing misleading argumentation techniques reduces their influence. PLOS ONE, 12(5), Article e0175799. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175799
17.
CorrellJ.SpencerS. J.ZannaM. P. (2004). An affirmed self and an open mind: Self-affirmation and sensitivity to argument strength. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40(3), 350–356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2003.07.001
18.
CrockerJ.NiiyaY.MischkowskiD. (2008). Why does writing about important values reduce defensiveness? Self-affirmation and the role of positive other-directed feelings. Psychological Science, 19(7), 740–747. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02150.x
19.
DillardA. J.McCaulK. D.MagnanR. E. (2005). Why is such a smart person like you smoking? Using self-affirmation to reduce defensiveness to cigarette warning labels1. Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, 10(3), 165–182. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9861.2005.tb00010.x
20.
DillardJ. P.ShenL. (2005). On the nature of reactance and its role in persuasive health communication. Communication Monographs, 72(2), 144–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637750500111815
21.
EffronD. A.RajM. (2019). Misinformation and morality: Encountering fake-news headlines makes them seem less unethical to publish and share. Psychological Science, 31(1), 75–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619887896
22.
EmanuelA. S.HowellJ. L.TaberJ. M.FerrerR. A.KleinW. M.HarrisP. R. (2018). Spontaneous self-affirmation is associated with psychological well-being: Evidence from a US national adult survey sample. Journal of Health Psychology, 23(1), 95–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105316643595
EptonT.HarrisP. R.KaneR.van KoningsbruggenG. M.SheeranP. (2015). The impact of self-affirmation on health-behavior change: A meta-analysis. Health Psychology, 34(3), 187–196. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000116
FerrerR. A.CohenG. L. (2019). Reconceptualizing self-affirmation with the trigger and channel framework: Lessons from the health domain. Personality & Social Psychology Review, 23(3), 285–304. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868318797036
27.
FerrerR. A.TaberJ. M.KleinW. M. P.HarrisP. R.LewisK. L.BieseckerL. G. (2015). The role of current affect, anticipated affect and spontaneous self-affirmation in decisions to receive self-threatening genetic risk information. Cognition & Emotion, 29(8), 1456–1465. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2014.985188
28.
GabielkovM.RamachandranA.ChaintreauA.LegoutA. (2016). Social clicks: What and who gets read on Twitter?ACM SIGMETRICS Performance Evaluation Review, 44, 179–192. https://doi.org/10.1145/2964791.2901462
29.
GuessA. M.LernerM.LyonsB.MontgomeryJ. M.NyhanB.ReiflerJ.SircarN. (2020). A digital media literacy intervention increases discernment between mainstream and false news in the United States and India. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(27), 15536. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1920498117
30.
HarrisP. R.GriffinD. W.NapperL. E.BondR.SchüzB.StrideC.BrearleyI. (2019). Individual differences in self-affirmation: Distinguishing self-affirmation from positive self-regard. Self and Identity, 18(6), 589–630. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2018.1504819
31.
HarrisP. R.NapperL. (2005). Self-Affirmation and the biased processing of threatening health-risk information. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31(9), 1250–1263. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167205274694
32.
IlesI. A.GillmanA. S.FerrerR. A.KleinM. P. (2021). Self-affirmation inductions to reduce defensive processing of threatening health risk information. Psychology & Health. Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2021.1945060
JolleyD.DouglasK. M. (2017). Prevention is better than cure: Addressing anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 47(8), 459–469. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12453
35.
KleinW. M. P.HarrisP. R.FerrerR. A.ZajacL. E. (2011). Feelings of vulnerability in response to threatening messages: Effects of self-affirmation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(6), 1237–1242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.05.005
36.
KleinW. M. P.LipkusI. M.SchollS. M.McQueenA.CerullyJ. L.HarrisP. R. (2010). Self-affirmation moderates effects of unrealistic optimism and pessimism on reactions to tailored risk feedback. Psychology & Health, 25(10), 1195–1208. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870440903261970
37.
LewandowskyS.EckerU. K. H.SeifertC. M.SchwarzN.CookJ. (2012). Misinformation and its correction: Continued influence and successful debiasing. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 13(3), 106–131. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612451018
38.
LibermanA.ChaikenS. (1992). Defensive processing of personally relevant health messages. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18(6), 669–679. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167292186002
39.
LutzkeL.DrummondC.SlovicP.ÁrvaiJ. (2019). Priming critical thinking: Simple interventions limit the influence of fake news about climate change on Facebook. Global Environmental Change, 58, 101964. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101964
40.
MaertensR.AnseelF.van der LindenS. (2020). Combatting climate change misinformation: Evidence for longevity of inoculation and consensus messaging effects. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 70, 101455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101455
41.
McGuireW. J. (1961). Resistance to persuasion conferred by active and passive prior refutation of the same and alternative counterarguments. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63(2), 326–332. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0048344
42.
McQueenA.KleinW. M. P. (2006). Experimental manipulations of self-affirmation: A systematic review. Self and Identity, 5(4), 289–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860600805325
MillerC. H.IvanovB.SimsJ.ComptonJ.HarrisonK. J.ParkerK. A.ParkerJ. L.AverbeckJ. M. (2013). Boosting the potency of resistance: Combining the motivational forces of inoculation and psychological reactance. Human Communication Research, 39(1), 127–155. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2012.01438.x
45.
NaglerR. H.YzerM. C.RothmanA. J. (2019). Effects of media exposure to conflicting information about mammography: Results from a population-based survey experiment. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 53(10), 896–908. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kay098
46.
NanX.WangY.ThierK. (2020). Health misinformation. In ThompsonT.HarringtonN. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of health communication (pp. 318–332). Routledge.
47.
NanX.ZhaoX. (2012). When does self-affirmation reduce negative responses to antismoking messages?Communication Studies, 63(4), 482–497. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2011.633151
48.
NiederdeppeJ.HeleyK.BarryC. L. (2015). Inoculation and narrative strategies in competitive framing of three health policy issues. Journal of Communication, 65(5), 838–862. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12162
49.
OhanianR. (1990). Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity endorsers’ perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. Journal of Advertising, 19(3), 39–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.1990.10673191
50.
O’KeefeD. J. (2002). Persuasion: Theory and research (2nd ed.). SAGE.
51.
PennycookG.BearA.CollinsE. T.RandD. G. (2020). The Implied Truth Effect: Attaching warnings to a subset of fake news headlines increases perceived accuracy of headlines without warnings. Management Science, 66. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2019.3478
52.
PersoskieA.FerrerR. A.TaberJ. M.KleinW. M.ParascandolaM.HarrisP. R. (2015). Smoke-free air laws and quit attempts: Evidence for a moderating role of spontaneous self-affirmation. Social Science & Medicine, 141, 46–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.07.015
53.
PettyR. E.CacioppoJ. T. (1986). Communication and persuasion: Central and peripheral routes to attitude change. Springer-Verlag.
54.
PietersmaS.DijkstraA. (2012). Cognitive self-affirmation inclination: An individual difference in dealing with self-threats. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51(1), 33–51. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466610x533768
RatcliffC. L.SunY. (2020). Overcoming resistance through narratives: Findings from a meta-analytic review. Human Communication Research, 46(4), 412–443. https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqz017
57.
RoozenbeekJ.MaertensR.McClanahanW.van der LindenS. (2020). Disentangling item and testing effects in inoculation research on online misinformation: Solomon revisited. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 81, 340–362. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164420940378
58.
RoozenbeekJ.van der LindenS. (2019). The fake news game: Actively inoculating against the risk of misinformation. Journal of Risk Research, 22(5), 570–580. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2018.1443491
59.
SeamanE. L.RobinsonC. D.CraneD.TaberJ. M.FerrerR. A.HarrisP. R.KleinW. M. P. (2020). Spontaneous but not induced self-affirmation is associated with smoking cessation in a mobile app randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(3), Article e18433. https://doi.org/10.2196/18433
60.
ShermanD. A. K.NelsonL. D.SteeleC. M. (2000). Do messages about health risks threaten the self? Increasing the acceptance of threatening health messages via self-affirmation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(9), 1046–1058. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672002611003
61.
ShinJ.JianL.DriscollK.BarF. (2018). The diffusion of misinformation on social media: Temporal pattern, message, and source. Computers in Human Behavior, 83, 278–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.02.008
62.
ShnabelN.Purdie-VaughnsV.CookJ. E.GarciaJ.CohenG. L. (2013). Demystifying values-affirmation interventions: Writing about social belonging is a key to buffering against identity threat. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(5), 663–676.
63.
SlaterM. D.RounerD. (2002). Entertainment—Education and elaboration likelihood: Understanding the processing of narrative persuasion. Communication Theory, 12(2), 173–191. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2002.tb00265.x
64.
SouthwellB. G.NiederdeppeJ.CappellaJ. N.GaysynskyA.KelleyD. E.OhA.PetersonE. B.ChouW.-Y. S. (2019). Misinformation as a misunderstood challenge to public health. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 57(2), 282–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2019.03.009
TaberJ. M.HowellJ. L.EmanuelA. S.KleinW. M.FerrerR. A.HarrisP. R. (2016). Associations of spontaneous self-affirmation with health care experiences and health information seeking in a national survey of US adults. Psychology & Health, 31(3), 292–309. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2015.1085986
67.
TaberJ. M.KleinW. M. P.PerskyS.FerrerR. A.KaufmanA. R.ThaiC. L.HarrisP. R. (2017). Interest in and reactions to genetic risk information: The role of implicit theories and self-affirmation. Social Science & Medicine, 190, 101–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.08.010
68.
TomaC. L.HancockJ. T. (2013). Self-affirmation underlies Facebook use. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(3), 321–331. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167212474694
69.
van der LindenS.LeiserowitzA.RosenthalS.MaibachE. (2017). Inoculating the public against misinformation about climate change. Global Challenges, 1(2), 1600008. https://doi.org/10.1002/gch2.201600008
70.
van der LindenS.RoozenbeekJ. (2020). Psychological inoculation against fake news. In GreifenaderR.JaffeM.NewmanE.SchwartzN. (Eds.), The psychology of fake news: Accepting, sharing, and correcting misinformation (pp. 147–169). Psychology Press.
71.
VragaE. K.BodeL.TullyM. (2021). The effects of a news literacy video and real-time corrections to video misinformation related to sunscreen and skin cancer. Health Communication, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2021.1910165
72.
VragaE. K.KimS. C.CookJ. (2019). Testing logic-based and humor-based corrections for science, health, and political misinformation on social media. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 63, 393–414. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2019.1653102
73.
VragaE. K.KimS. C.CookJ.BodeL. (2020). Testing the effectiveness of correction placement and type on Instagram. The International Journal of Press/politics, 25, 632–652. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161220919082
74.
WalterN.TukachinskyR. (2019). A meta-analytic examination of the continued influence of misinformation in the face of correction: How powerful is it, why does it happen, and how to stop it?Communication Research, 47(2), 155–177. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650219854600
75.
WongN. C. H. (2016). “Vaccinations are safe and effective”: Inoculating positive HPV vaccine attitudes against antivaccination attack messages. Communication Reports, 29(3), 127–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/08934215.2015.1083599
76.
WoodM. L. M. (2007). Rethinking the inoculation analogy: Effects on subjects with differing preexisting attitudes. Human Communication Research, 33(3), 357–378. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2007.00303.x
77.
ZhaoX.StrasserA.CappellaJ. N.LermanC.FishbeinM. (2011). A measure of perceived argument strength: Reliability and validity. Communication Methods and Measures, 5(1), 48–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2010.547822
