In a pioneering development, psychologists from the University of Cambridge have introduced the world’s first scientifically validated “misinformation susceptibility test.” This concise, two-minute assessment serves as an effective tool to ascertain an individual’s susceptibility to fabricated news proliferating online.
The test, known as ‘MIST’ and meticulously validated through a rigorous two-year study involving over 8,000 participants, has been deployed by the polling organization YouGov to assess the susceptibility of Americans to misleading headlines.
The inaugural implementation of the 20-point MIST, developed by researchers using an early iteration of ChatGPT, revealed that, on average, adult U.S. citizens correctly identified two-thirds (65%) of presented headlines as either genuine or fake.
Contrary to prevailing assumptions about age and susceptibility to online misinformation, the survey found that younger adults demonstrated a lower proficiency in discerning false headlines than their older counterparts. Additionally, individuals who spent more recreational time online exhibited a decreased ability to differentiate between authentic news and misinformation.
These findings challenge the commonly held belief that older, less digitally-savvy individuals are more susceptible to fake news. The study, presenting the validated MIST, is detailed in the journal Behavior Research Methods, with the polling results available on the YouGov US website.
Encouraging public engagement, researchers invite individuals to assess their own susceptibility using the MIST at https://yourmist.streamlit.app/. The test, involving the classification of 20 headlines as true or false, provides users with scores and a “resilience” ranking relative to the broader U.S. population, completing in under two minutes.
Professor Sander van der Linden, senior author of the MIST study and head of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab, emphasized the critical role of the test in addressing the challenges posed by misinformation in the digital age. He stated, “Misinformation is one of the biggest challenges facing democracies in the digital age.”
The MIST employs assessment tools developed by the Cambridge team to determine the optimal combination of fake and genuine headlines, ensuring the reliability of results. Real news examples were drawn from reputable sources such as the Pew Research Center and Reuters, while false but credibly confusing headlines were generated using artificial intelligence, specifically ChatGPT version 2.
Dr. Friedrich Götz, co-author of the MIST, urged fellow psychologists to embrace AI, emphasizing its potential to positively influence technology development. The MIST underwent extensive testing involving misinformation experts who refined the selection of true and false headlines, subsequently conducting experiments with thousands of participants in the UK and the U.S.
Results from the latest YouGov survey in April 2023 indicated that younger individuals (18-29 years) scored lower on the MIST, with only 11% achieving high scores compared to 36% of those aged 65 or older. Furthermore, increased recreational time spent online correlated with higher susceptibility to misinformation.
The survey also explored news consumption channels, revealing that “legacy media” outlets like the Associated Press and NPR yielded higher MIST scores compared to social media platforms. Democrats outperformed Republicans on the MIST, with 33% of Democrats achieving high scores, compared to 14% of Republicans.
A concerning revelation from the YouGov poll indicated that half of all Americans claim to encounter what they believe is misinformation online on a daily basis.
Dr. Maertens, another contributor to the study, emphasized the urgent need for rethinking media literacy approaches and platform designs, particularly in the context of younger individuals turning to social media for information.
“The MIST will allow us to verify the effectiveness of interventions to tackle fake news. We want to explore why some people are more resilient to misinformation, and what we can learn from them,” added Dr. Maertens.
