Confidence as a metacognitive contributor to and consequence of misinformation experiences
Abstract
Exposures to inaccurate information can lead people to become confused about what is true, to doubt their understandings, and to rely on the ideas later. Recent work has begun to investigate the role of metacognition in these effects. We review research foregrounding confidence as an exemplar metacognitive contributor to misinformation experiences. Miscalibrations between confidence about what one knows, and the actual knowledge one possesses, can help explain why people might hold fast to misinformed beliefs even in the face of counterevidence. Miscalibrations can also emerge after brief exposures to new misinformation, allowing even obvious inaccuracies to influence subsequent performance. Evidence additionally suggests confidence may present a useful target for intervention, helping to encourage careful evaluation under the right conditions.
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Higher metacognitive bias is associated with greater resistance to correcting misinformed beliefs.
“Additionally, research has shown that higher metacognitive bias is associated with a greater likelihood of making errors when dealing with inaccuracies in texts (Salovich & Rapp, 2021), difficulties in reasoning about controversies (Lang et al., 2021), and greater resistance to correcting misinformed beliefs (Rapp & Withall, 2024).”
From “ <scp>ChatGPT</scp> can make mistakes. Check important info.” Epistemic beliefs and metacognitive accuracy in students' integration of <scp>ChatGPT</scp> content into academic writing (2025) · cites this paper as Rapp & Withall, 2024
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- Authors
- Rapp, D. N., & Withall, M. M.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rapp, David N.
- Venue
- Current Opinion in Psychology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2024-02
- Volume
- 55
- Pages
- 101735
- ISSN
- 2352-250X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4388666191
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 69
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 2
- FWCI
- 0.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Current Opinion in Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Strategies and Epistemologies
- Keywords
- metacognition, confidence, misinformation, metacognitive calibration, belief persistence, counterevidence, belief updating, misinformation exposure, belief evaluation
- MeSH terms
- Metacognition, Communication, Emotions, Humans, Comprehension
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