A recent study published in the journal PLOS One has unveiled a significant correlation between political beliefs and susceptibility to health disinformation. Indeed, the research shows that people with more conservative political ideology may be more susceptible to believing false health messages. We administered two detailed, nationwide online surveys as the basis for this study. Our participants were both young and old, 18-92 years old, with over 40% of our respondents being over 60 years of age.
Browse the entire study at its DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0315259. It’s Ark’s newest project that produces some amazing and critical findings on how different demographics are interacting with health information on the web. Researchers’ primary concern was constructing a diverse participant base. They made sure that Republicans, Democrats, and Independents respectively made up about one-third of total respondents.
Methodology of the Study
Our research was comprised of two separate but related online surveys aimed at measuring participants’ abilities to spot health disinformation. Each survey was designed to test one specific version of ten HRSB-type social media posts. All together, we coded 20 posts from each of the two surveys.
Participants had to decide whether or not each of these posts was correct. The study revealed that across the board, participants identified health-related disinformation at a 66% accuracy level. The participants’ apparent lack of concern about the age-bias of their decisions is illustrated in the figure where, overall, participants showed little discernment. Many still struggled to distinguish credible health information from misinformation.
Influence of Political Affiliation on Information Processing
What we found in this study was a remarkable result. Most importantly, it illustrated the unmistakable connection between one’s political party and their susceptibility to health-related disinformation. These results suggested that conservatives were more susceptible to misleading health stories. Their liberal opposites were much less likely to fall for these deceptive ads. This trend paints a disconcerting picture, even more so when considering the role of political ideology in determining perceptions of public health communications.
The research showed that people with a strong “need for cognition” are good at critical thinking. Because of this, they are much more adept at identifying misleading content online. Building critical thinking skills will be one of the most powerful tools we have to stop health disinformation in its tracks. This three-pronged approach is more important than ever for populations who are particularly susceptible to this type of misinformation.
Demographic Insights and Implications
The racial, ethnic, and gender breakdown of the study’s participant pool invited a much more diverse set of study findings. The study underscores the importance of considering how different age groups prefer to learn about health information. Importantly, more than 40% of participants are older than 60 years of age. Older adults are one group that can be especially vulnerable to health-related disinformation as they may increasingly turn to social media platforms for health information and advice.
Clearly, age does play a factor, but equally as important is the even political-party representation. Understanding the range of additional perspectives is critical to successfully combatting health misinformation. Democrats and Independents were more skeptical of health disinformation than Republicans. These findings illustrate the need for targeted communication strategies, particularly when trying to correct health-related misinformation among varied political and demographic communities.