Motivation to Correct Misinformation: Third-Person Perceptions and Perceived Norms

ABSTRACT

The proliferation of misinformation is an ongoing problem in the United States. The public's trust in news from the mainstream media is down, and the sharing of news items on social media is up—even the sharing of made-up news. Previous research has found third-person perceptions (TPP) indicate that people tend to believe that others are more influenced by misinformation than they are. People also believe they are more likely to correct their own misinformation than their perceived norm of how likely others are to correct misinformation that they have propagated. This replication study found that TPP and perceived norms influence a person's likelihood of self-correcting and correcting others when misinformation has been spread. Those with lower media hostility are also more likely to correct.