Debunking: A Meta-Analysis of the Psychological Efficacy of Messages Countering Misinformation

Abstract

This meta-analysis investigated the factors underlying effective messages to counter attitudes and beliefs based on misinformation. Because misinformation can lead to poor decisions about consequential matters and is persistent and difficult to correct, debunking it is an important scientific and public-policy goal. This meta-analysis ( k = 52, N = 6,878) revealed large effects for presenting misinformation ( ds = 2.41-3.08), debunking ( ds = 1.14-1.33), and the persistence of misinformation in the face of debunking ( ds = 0.75-1.06). Persistence was stronger and the debunking effect was weaker when audiences generated reasons in support of the initial misinformation. A detailed debunking message correlated positively with the debunking effect. Surprisingly, however, a detailed debunking message also correlated positively with the misinformation-persistence effect.

Keywords: belief persistence/perseverance; continued influence; correction; misinformation; open data; science communication.

Fig. 1.

Flowchart of the search protocol and workflow used for study selection, as suggested by Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, and Altman (2009).

Fig. 2.

Contour-enhanced funnel plots showing standard error as a function of effect size, separately for the misinformation, debunking, and misinformation-persistence effects. The top row shows results when all records were included, whereas the bottom row shows results when the smaller records were removed and the trim-and-fill method was used (triangles indicate filled records). The vertical dashed lines indicate the mean estimates of the fixed-effects model. Outliers were removed in the calculations of the misinformation and misinformation-persistence effects.