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Category: Project

Description: The spread of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines threatens to prolong the pandemic, with prior evidence indicating that exposure to misinformation has negative effects on intent to take the vaccine. Here, we describe results from randomized experiments in the U.S. (n=5,075) that allow us to measure the effects of factual corrections on false beliefs about the vaccine, as well as vaccine intent. Our evidence makes clear that corrections eliminate the effects of misinformation on beliefs about the vaccine, but that neither misinformation nor corrections affect vaccine intention. Our experiments also allow us to evaluate how formatting changes to the presentation of corrections alter the overall effects of corrections. We find that corrections without any formatting modifications are effective at reducing false beliefs, with formatting variations playing a very minor role. Factual corrections are powerful tools in the fight against misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, with effects robust to a wide variety of formatting changes.