Using narratives to correct politically charged health misinformation and address affective belief echoes

Helen M Lillie; Chelsea L Ratcliff; Andy J King; Manusheela Pokharel; Jakob D Jensen

doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdae050

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Using narratives to correct politically charged health misinformation and address affective belief echoes

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Using narratives to correct politically charged health misinformation and address affective belief echoes

Helen M Lillie, Chelsea L Ratcliff, Andy J King, Manusheela Pokharel and Jakob D Jensen

Journal of public health (Oxford, England), Vol.46(3), pp.430-436

09/2024

DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdae050

PMCID: PMC11358629

PMID: 38632889

Appears in UI Libraries Support Open Access

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Abstract

In May 2020, news outlets reported misinformation about the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) related to COVID-19. Correcting misinformation about outbreaks and politics is particularly challenging. Affective belief echoes continue to influence audiences even after successful correction. Narrative and emotional flow scholarship suggest that a narrative corrective with a positive ending could reduce belief echoes. Therefore, this study investigated the efficacy of a narrative corrective with a relief ending for correcting misinformation about the CDC. Between 29 May and 4 June 2020, we tested the effectiveness of a narrative to correct this misinformation. Participants in the United States (N = 469) were enrolled via Qualtrics panels in an online message experiment and randomized to receive a narrative corrective, a didactic corrective or no corrective. The narrative corrective resulted in lower endorsement of the misinformation compared with the control and the didactic corrective. The narrative corrective had a positive indirect effect on perceived CDC competence and mask wearing intentions for politically moderate and conservative participants via relief. Public health institutions, such as the CDC, should consider utilizing narrative messaging with positive emotion endings to correct misinformation. Narratives better address affective belief echoes, particularly for counter-attitudinal audiences.

COVID-19

misinformation

narrative

political ideology

relief

UIOWA OA Agreement

Details

Title: Subtitle: Using narratives to correct politically charged health misinformation and address affective belief echoes
Creators: Helen M Lillie - University of Iowa
Chelsea L Ratcliff - University of Georgia
Andy J King - University of Utah
Manusheela Pokharel - Texas State University
Jakob D Jensen - University of Utah
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of public health (Oxford, England), Vol.46(3), pp.430-436
DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdae050
PMID: 38632889
PMCID: PMC11358629
NLM abbreviation: J Public Health (Oxf)
eISSN: 1741-3850
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Grant note: NCI NIH HHS 1DP2EB022360-01 / NIH HHS
Language: English
Electronic publication date: 04/18/2024
Date published: 09/2024
Academic Unit: Communication Studies
Record Identifier: 9984617008602771

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