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Study: Heightened susceptibility to misinformation linked to reduced mask wearing and social distancing | PsyPost

People with a poor understanding of quantitative information are more likely to endorse myths about COVID-19 and those who believe such misinformation are less likely to follow public health guidance such as wearing a mask in public, according to new research. The study appears in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

“Misinformation has been one of the major focal points of our research since early 2018. Misinformation about COVID-19 has rapidly become a significant problem, with the WHO declaring an ‘infodemic’ and people setting fire to mobile phone masts because of conspiracies surrounding 5G networks,” said Jon Roozenbeek and Sander van der Linden, two co-authors of the study who are affiliated with the Social Decision-Making Lab at the University of Cambridge.

“We were interested in finding out what predicts belief in misinformation about the virus, and whether belief in such misinformation impacts key health behaviors.”

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Source: Study: Heightened susceptibility to misinformation linked to reduced mask wearing and social distancing