Inoculation does work even with polarized, political topics, and could even retroactively correct misinformation

University of Delaware

Inoculating someone (in the context of fake news) is an attempt to reduce an individual's susceptibility to accepting fake news by presenting them with misinformation and giving them the tools to recognize it as such. The theory comes directly from an immunological analogy about virus protection; in the psychological sense, inoculation is giving someone a "weakened" version of misleading info, which leads "mental antibodies" formed, making them "immune" to persuasion.

See "How Disinformation is Disseminated"

Inoculation Theory

van der Linden, S., & Roozenbeek, J. (2021). Psychological Inoculation Against Fake News. In R. Greifeneder, M. E. Jaffé, E. J. Newman, & N. Schwarz, The Psychology of Fake News: Accepting, Sharing, and Correcting Misinformation. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429295379

Psychological Inoculation Against Fake News

The process of inoculation consists of two steps:
- Affective Basis
- Cognitive Basis

Process of Inoculation

Inoculation with Political Topics

Boosting is later on treatment that refreshes the memory of the learned lessons from the bad news game that applies the inoculation theory. Examples of boosting messages for the bad news game would be a weakened attack message, repetition of the inoculation procedure, or a new message warning to provoke a fresh sense of threat. To be successful, boosters must be administered at an appropriate time and in the right form.

Boosting in reference to Inoculation Theory

Experiment 1 replicated the original Bad News Intervention study. It had participants take a pretest rating the reliability of presented news items (some fake, some real). The experimental group then played the bad news game and then took the same rating test while the control group instead played Tetris prior to the post test. Participants were then called back for follow-up testing rating the same news headlines at 1 week, 5 weeks, and 13 weeks.

Design of Experiment 1 Testing Longitudinal Effects of Inoculation Interventions

Experiment 2 had the same design as experiment 1, however, participants were only called back for a follow-up once after 9 weeks.

Design of Experiment 2 Testing Longitudinal Effects of Inoculation Interventions

Experiment 3 varied slightly from experiment 1 by using the same design but no longer including a control group and also changing the item set and fake-to-real ratio for follow-up measures. This alteration in design aimed to rule out any confounding variables of experiment 1.

Design of Experiment 3 Testing Longitudinal Effects of Inoculation Interventions

Researchers have been creating electronic simulations as means to train people to identify fake news. These are often presented in the form of games, and they simulate online platforms where misinformation and fake news are spread.

Electronic Simulation Interventions for Fake News

The "Bad News" Game was effective in decreasing the perceived reliability of fake news statements. It provides evidence on how inoculation theory could be applied to create “immunity” against fake news. As players practiced and were trained for misinformation, they were able to identify fake news.

"Bad News" Game and the Inoculation Theory 

Seeing a positive consensus message (97% of scientists agree that humans are the cause of climate change) and being inoculated against disinformation messages work together to provide long-term resistance to misinformation.  

Consensus Messaging and Inoculation Theory

-forwarning of misinformation
-counter of misinformation 


Structural elements of Inoculation

There are two ways in which inoculation messages can be used to correct misinformation: a warning message of being misinformed and including arguments to refute the misinformation. The forwarding message is to make sure that people will be aware and less vulnerable to misinformation. Counterarguments help people see the presence of misinformation.


Structures of Inoculation

-Fact based inoculation
-Logic based inoculation
-Humor based inoculation

Forms of Inoculation Messages

•	Fact based inoculation message
•	Logic based inoculation message 
•	Humor based inoculation message 

Types of  Inoculation Messages

When the source has high credibility (high in both its expertise and trustworthiness), inoculation can effectively decrease the continued influence effect, increasing the belief in retraction and decreasing the belief in misinformation. 


Effectiveness of Inoculation in Retraction

For sources with only high trustworthiness, inoculation effectively decreases the trust in misinformation but shows no significant impact in affecting people’s trust in retraction. 

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