Politricks: Teaching political tricks and discernment through active and passive tools

Abstract

In an age of information overload, misinformation poses a growing threat to democracy. Inoculation theory suggests that exposing individuals to manipulation techniques can help build resistance to misinformation and improve their ability to discern such content over time. However, little research has directly compared the effectiveness of active learning tools, such as gamified interventions, to passive learning methods, like informational guides, for enhancing the detection of misinformation within important public issues, such as elections and climate change. To address this gap, we designed two tools aimed at enhancing users' ability to recognize manipulation strategies used to disseminate misinformation: an interactive game (Politricks) and a passive learning-based guide, and compared the impact to a control condition (Tetris). Through two survey experiments (N = 1,035), we explored the effect on beliefs about election-related misinformation (study 1), and the transferability of these resources to climate change misinformation (study 2). Both learning tools significantly improved discernment and reduced engagement with manipulative content. While both interventions were almost equally effective, the tools had a stronger impact on election misinformation detection, compared to climate change misinformation. Notably, the Politricks game showed stronger discernment effects among individuals with lower initial discernment, particularly those with stronger beliefs in the inaccuracy of the 2020 election results and conservatives. These findings suggest that both active and passive tools can enhance discernment and resilience against misinformation. These results highlight the effectiveness of both active and passive learning tools across misinformation domains.

Keywords: election; gamification; inoculation; manipulation; misinformation.

Fig. 1.

Overview of the interventions experienced, including the Politricks game, the passive inoculation guide, and Tetris. In the game, participants interact with characters using manipulation strategies, while the guide presents these strategies in a more passive format through reading and quizzes.

Fig. 2.

The impact of the two inoculation conditions (the Politricks game and passive inoculation guide) on participants’ ability to detect manipulative content (manipulation detection) and evaluate content accuracy (accuracy detection) relative to the control group (Tetris) for election-related headlines in study 1 (2A and B) and climate change headlines in study 2 (2C and D). Both manipulation and accuracy detection (or discernment) were operationalized through the interaction terms, where we looked at the interaction between experimental condition (Tetris, game, or guide) with manipulation presence (manipulative vs. neutral) and headline veracity (true vs. false).

Fig. 3.

Effects of political orientation on participants’ ability to detect manipulation (manipulation detection) and assess content accuracy (accuracy detection) across the game, guide, and control groups in study 1 (3A and B) and study 2 (3C and D).

Fig. 4

Best fit models derived from stepwise regression analysis showing the relationship between manipulation detection and accuracy detection, adjusted for the most significant predictors in study 1 (A and B) and study 2 (C and D).