Citation

Li Z, Yan J. BMC Public Health 2024; 24(1): e1291.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/s12889-024-18763-9

PMID

38734610

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.

Language: en

Keywords

*Communication; *Students, Medical/psychology/statistics & numerical data; Adult; China; Collectivism; Cross-Sectional Studies; Digital misinformation; Efficacy; Female; Humans; Male; Pre-professionals; Professional identification; Self Efficacy; Surveys and Questionnaires; Third-person perception; Young Adult