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Why do people believe health misinformation and who is at risk? A systematic review of individual differences in susceptibility to health misinformation

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  • Nan, Xiaoli
  • Wang, Yuan
  • Thier, Kathryn

Abstract

Health misinformation poses a significant threat to public health. Understanding why people believe health misinformation and who is at risk is crucial for developing effective interventions to reduce the harmful impact of misinformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Nan, Xiaoli & Wang, Yuan & Thier, Kathryn, 2022. "Why do people believe health misinformation and who is at risk? A systematic review of individual differences in susceptibility to health misinformation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:314:y:2022:i:c:s0277953622007043
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115398
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    2. Rydberg, Jason & DeZago, Luke, 2025. "Skepticism in science and punitive attitudes," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Stephan Lewandowsky & Ullrich K. H. Ecker & John Cook & Sander van der Linden & Jon Roozenbeek & Naomi Oreskes & Lee C. McIntyre, 2024. "Liars know they are lying: differentiating disinformation from disagreement," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    4. Zhao, Xiaoquan & Horoszko, Urszula A. & Murphy, Amy & Taylor, Bruce G. & Lamuda, Phoebe A. & Pollack, Harold A. & Schneider, John A. & Taxman, Faye S., 2023. "Openness to change among COVID misinformation endorsers: Associations with social demographic characteristics and information source usage," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    5. Xue, Xiang & Ma, Haiyun & Zhao, Yuxiang (Chris) & Zhu, Qinghua & Song, Shijie, 2024. "Mitigating the influence of message features on health misinformation sharing intention in social media: Experimental evidence for accuracy-nudge intervention," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).
    6. Zhang, Si-Qi & Li, Ming-Hui & Li, Yu-Chu & Rao, Li-Lin, 2025. "Effects of childhood environments on the discernment of health misinformation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 380(C).
    7. Jingyuan Yu & Emese Domahidi & Duccio Gamannossi degl’Innocenti & Fabiana Zollo, 2026. "Crisis, country, and party lines: politicians’ misinformation behavior and public engagement," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-19, February.

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