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Does a perceptual gap lead to actions against digital misinformation? A third-person effect study among medical students.
- Source :
- BMC Public Health; 5/11/2024, Vol. 24 Issue 1, p1-13, 13p
- Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Background: We are making progress in the fight against health-related misinformation, but mass participation and active engagement are far from adequate. Focusing on pre-professional medical students with above-average medical knowledge, our study examined whether and how third-person perceptions (TPP), which hypothesize that people tend to perceive media messages as having a greater effect on others than on themselves, would motivate their actions against misinformation. Methods: We collected the cross-sectional data through a self-administered paper-and-pencil survey of 1,500 medical students in China during April 2022. Results: Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, showed that TPP was negatively associated with medical students' actions against digital misinformation, including rebuttal of misinformation and promotion of corrective information. However, self-efficacy and collectivism served as positive predictors of both actions. Additionally, we found professional identification failed to play a significant role in influencing TPP, while digital misinformation self-efficacy was found to broaden the third-person perceptual gap and collectivism tended to reduce the perceptual bias significantly. Conclusions: Our study contributes both to theory and practice. It extends the third-person effect theory by moving beyond the examination of restrictive actions and toward the exploration of corrective and promotional actions in the context of misinformation., It also lends a new perspective to the current efforts to counter digital misinformation; involving pre-professionals (in this case, medical students) in the fight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- MEDICAL students
PROFESSIONAL identity
STRUCTURAL equation modeling
MISINFORMATION
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14712458
- Volume :
- 24
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- BMC Public Health
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 177193729
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18763-9