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Testing Logic-based and Humor-based Corrections for Science, Health, and Political Misinformation on Social Media
Abstract
Misinformation causes a range of negative impacts. One proposed solution is applying critical thinking techniques to neutralize misinformation by explaining its misleading techniques or logical fallacies. This study tests the efficacy of corrections after exposure to misinformation that adopt inoculating techniques. We test two forms of rhetorical correction—logic-based and humor-based—across the issues of climate change, gun control, and HPV vaccination. We find that results vary across topics, with both logic-based and humor-based corrections reducing misperceptions only for HPV vaccination. More research is needed to test the efficacy of logic-based and humor-based corrections across different issues.
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“These tropes, which include manipulation techniques such as logical fallacies (20) and emotionally manipulative language (18), can be analyzed and used for inoculation without prior knowledge of specific misleading content, thus potentially providing broad resilience against social media or news content that draws on one or more of the techniques that someone has been inoculated against.”
From Psychological inoculation improves resilience against misinformation on social media (2022) · cites this paper as [20]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Vraga, E. K., Kim, S. C., & Cook, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- George Mason University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2019-07-03
- Volume
- 63
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 393-414
- ISSN
- 0883-8151 (ISSN-L)
- 1550-6878
- OpenAlex
- W2973736928
- Cited by
- 162
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 11
- FWCI
- 26.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- George Mason University (000)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change Communication and Perception
- Social Sciences › Communication › Communication and COVID-19 Impact
- Keywords
- misinformation, inoculation theory, critical thinking, logical fallacies, scientific misinformation, health misinformation, political misinformation, climate change, gun control, HPV vaccination, social media
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