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Fake news game confers psychological resistance against online misinformation

Author

Listed:
  • Jon Roozenbeek

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Sander Linden

    (University of Cambridge)

Abstract

The spread of online misinformation poses serious challenges to societies worldwide. In a novel attempt to address this issue, we designed a psychological intervention in the form of an online browser game. In the game, players take on the role of a fake news producer and learn to master six documented techniques commonly used in the production of misinformation: polarisation, invoking emotions, spreading conspiracy theories, trolling people online, deflecting blame, and impersonating fake accounts. The game draws on an inoculation metaphor, where preemptively exposing, warning, and familiarising people with the strategies used in the production of fake news helps confer cognitive immunity when exposed to real misinformation. We conducted a large-scale evaluation of the game with N = 15,000 participants in a pre-post gameplay design. We provide initial evidence that people’s ability to spot and resist misinformation improves after gameplay, irrespective of education, age, political ideology, and cognitive style.

Suggested Citation

  • Jon Roozenbeek & Sander Linden, 2019. "Fake news game confers psychological resistance against online misinformation," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:5:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-019-0279-9
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-019-0279-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Melki, Mickael & Pickering, Andrew, 2014. "Ideological polarization and the media," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 125(1), pages 36-39.
    2. Shane Frederick, 2005. "Cognitive Reflection and Decision Making," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 25-42, Fall.
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    Cited by:

    1. Danielle Caled & Mário J. Silva, 2022. "Digital media and misinformation: An outlook on multidisciplinary strategies against manipulation," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 123-159, May.
    2. John A. List & Lina M. Ramírez & Julia Seither & Jaime Unda & Beatriz Vallejo, 2024. "Toward an Understanding of the Economics of Misinformation: Evidence from a Demand Side Field Experiment on Critical Thinking," NBER Working Papers 32367, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Jon Roozenbeek & Stefan M. Herzog & Michael Geers & Ralf Kurvers & Mubashir Sultan & Sander van der Linden, 2022. "Susceptibility to misinformation is consistent across question framings and response modes and better explained by myside bias and partisanship than analytical thinking," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 17(3), pages 547-573, May.
    4. Garrett Morrow & Briony Swire‐Thompson & Jessica Montgomery Polny & Matthew Kopec & John P. Wihbey, 2022. "The emerging science of content labeling: Contextualizing social media content moderation," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(10), pages 1365-1386, October.
    5. Brendan Nyhan, 2020. "Facts and Myths about Misperceptions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 220-236, Summer.
    6. Roger D. Magarey & Christina M. Trexler, 2020. "Information: a missing component in understanding and mitigating social epidemics," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. C. A. Robb & S. Wendel, 2023. "Who Can You Trust? Assessing Vulnerability to Digital Imposter Scams," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 27-51, March.
    8. repec:jdm:journl:v:17:y:2022:i:4:p:849-882 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Ioan Batrancea & Mehmet Ali Balcı & Larissa M. Batrancea & Ömer Akgüller & Horia Tulai & Mircea-Iosif Rus & Ema Speranta Masca & Ioan Dan Morar, 2024. "Topic Analysis of Social Media Posts during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Tweets in Turkish," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 12361-12391, September.
    10. Jinjin Ma & Yidi Chen & Huanya Zhu & Yiqun Gan, 2023. "Fighting COVID-19 Misinformation through an Online Game Based on the Inoculation Theory: Analyzing the Mediating Effects of Perceived Threat and Persuasion Knowledge," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-18, January.
    11. Theiss Bendixen, 2020. "How cultural evolution can inform the science of science communication—and vice versa," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-10, December.
    12. repec:cup:judgdm:v:17:y:2022:i:3:p:547-573 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Sebastian Blesse & Friedrich Heinemann & Tommy Krieger, 2021. "Ökonomische Desinformation — Ursachen und Handlungsempfehlungen [Economic Disinformation — Causes and Recommendations for Action]," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 101(12), pages 943-948, December.
    14. Jay J. Van Bavel & Katherine Baicker & Paulo S. Boggio & Valerio Capraro & Aleksandra Cichocka & Mina Cikara & Molly J. Crockett & Alia J. Crum & Karen M. Douglas & James N. Druckman & John Drury & Oe, 2020. "Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(5), pages 460-471, May.
    15. Cecilie S. Traberg & Jon Roozenbeek & Sander van der Linden, 2022. "Psychological Inoculation against Misinformation: Current Evidence and Future Directions," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 700(1), pages 136-151, March.
    16. Cun Fu & Jinru Zhang & Xin Kang, 2024. "True or false? Linguistic and demographic factors influence veracity judgment of COVID-19 rumors," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-7, December.
    17. Blesse, Sebastian & Heinemann, Friedrich & Krieger, Tommy, 2021. "Informationsdefizite als Hindernis rationaler Wirtschaftspolitik: Ausmass, Ursachen und Gegenstrategien. Eine Studie mit Unterstützung der Brigitte Strube Stiftung," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, number 241989.
    18. Cameron Martel & Mohsen Mosleh & David G. Rand, 2021. "You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 120-133.
    19. Carl-Anton Werner Axelsson & Mona Guath & Thomas Nygren, 2021. "Learning How to Separate Fake from Real News: Scalable Digital Tutorials Promoting Students’ Civic Online Reasoning," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-18, February.
    20. Nadejda Komendantova & Love Ekenberg & Mattias Svahn & Aron Larsson & Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah & Myrsini Glinos & Vasilis Koulolias & Mats Danielson, 2021. "A value-driven approach to addressing misinformation in social media," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    21. Nan, Xiaoli & Wang, Yuan & Thier, Kathryn, 2022. "Why do people believe health misinformation and who is at risk? A systematic review of individual differences in susceptibility to health misinformation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    22. Tobia Spampatti & Ulf J. J. Hahnel & Evelina Trutnevyte & Tobias Brosch, 2024. "Psychological inoculation strategies to fight climate disinformation across 12 countries," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(2), pages 380-398, February.
    23. repec:cup:judgdm:v:17:y:2022:i:4:p:849-882 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Bermes, Alena, 2021. "Information overload and fake news sharing: A transactional stress perspective exploring the mitigating role of consumers’ resilience during COVID-19," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    25. Philipp Lorenz-Spreen & Stephan Lewandowsky & Cass R. Sunstein & Ralph Hertwig, 2020. "How behavioural sciences can promote truth, autonomy and democratic discourse online," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(11), pages 1102-1109, November.

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