Psychological interventions countering misinformation in social media: A scoping review

Abstract

IntroductionThe rise of social media users and the explosive growth in misinformation shared across social media platforms have become a serious threat to democratic discourse and public health. The mentioned implications have increased the demand for misinformation detection and intervention. To contribute to this challenge, we are presenting a systematic scoping review of psychological interventions countering misinformation in social media. The review was conducted to (i) identify and map evidence on psychological interventions countering misinformation, (ii) compare the viability of the interventions on social media, and (iii) provide guidelines for the development of effective interventions.MethodsA systematic search in three bibliographic databases (PubMed, Embase, and Scopus) and additional searches in Google Scholar and reference lists were conducted.Results3,561 records were identified, 75 of which met the eligibility criteria for the inclusion in the final review. The psychological interventions identified during the review can be classified into three categories distinguished by Kozyreva et al.: Boosting, Technocognition, and Nudging, and then into 15 types within these. Most of the studied interventions were not implemented and tested in a real social media environment but under strictly controlled settings or online crowdsourcing platforms. The presented feasibility assessment of implementation insights expressed qualitatively and with numerical scoring could guide the development of future interventions that can be successfully implemented on social media platforms.DiscussionThe review provides the basis for further research on psychological interventions counteracting misinformation. Future research on interventions should aim to combine effective Technocognition and Nudging in the user experience of online services.Systematic review registration[https://figshare.com/], identifier [https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14649432.v2].

Does incentivization promote sharing “true” content online?

“…Although a recent study identified a significant effect of financial incentives on truth discernment and the subsequent sharing of factual information (Rathje et al, 2023), non-financial (and more scalable) interventions also played a role in truth discernment, albeit a smaller one. Taken together, perhaps a combined intervention may be more practical and effective (see Bak-Coleman et al, 2022), where a social incentive structure is employed as a behavior-based intervention along with other psychological interventions that have successfully demonstrated impact in curbing misinformation (see Gwiaździński et al, 2023).…”

Exploring the impact of automated correction of misinformation in social media

“…Various nudging techniques have been studied to identify the most efficient means of delivering corrective information to individuals who are inclined to spread misinformation. Most of such studies were performed in lab or crowdsourcing environments (Gwiaździński et al 2023). Field-based studies (ecological methods) on correcting misinformation are performed in real-world settings and use people who are unaware that they are in an experiment (Bhuiyan et al 2018).…”

“…Most of such studies were performed in lab or crowdsourcing environments (Gwiaździński et al. 2023). Field‐based studies (ecological methods) on correcting misinformation are performed in real‐world settings and use people who are unaware that they are in an experiment (Bhuiyan et al.…”

“…media environment. Instead, they were tested in highly controlled settings or simulated environments (Gwiaździński et al 2023). As a consequence, the applicability and real-world effectiveness of these interventions may be limited or uncertain.…”

On the Efficacy of Accuracy Prompts Across Partisan Lines: An Adversarial Collaboration

“…Misinformation is a pressing global issue. Researchers have been exploring the psychological underpinnings of belief in and sharing of misinformation (Pennycook & Rand, 2021; Van Bavel et al, 2021; van der Linden, Roozenbeek, et al, 2021) and testing potential interventions to reduce the spread of misinformation (Gwiaździński et al, 2023; Kozyreva et al, 2022). However, there are competing theoretical perspectives regarding the psychological causes of misinformation belief and sharing and the effectiveness of interventions.…”