Review | Special Issue: From Vulnerability to Vigilance

Intellectual humility and misinformation receptivity: A meta-analytic review

Shauna M. Bowes

https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00026
Published: September 27, 2024
Copyright: The authors (CC BY 4.0)

Bowes, S.M. & Fazio, L.K. (2024). Intellectual humility and misinformation receptivity: A meta-analytic review. advances.in/psychology, 2, e940422. https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00026

Bowes, Shauna M., and Lisa K. Fazio. "Intellectual humility and misinformation receptivity: A meta-analytic review." advances.in/psychology, vol. 2, no. 1, 2024, e940422. https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00026.

Bowes, Shauna M., and Lisa K. Fazio. 2024. "Intellectual humility and misinformation receptivity: A meta-analytic review." advances.in/psychology 2 (1): e940422. https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00026.

Bowes SM, Fazio LK. Intellectual humility and misinformation receptivity: A meta-analytic review. advances.in/psychology. 2024;2(1):e940422. doi:10.56296/aip00026.

Bowes, S.M. and Fazio, L.K. (2024) 'Intellectual humility and misinformation receptivity: A meta-analytic review', advances.in/psychology, 2(1), e940422. Available at: https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00026.

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Given the pervasiveness and dangers of misinformation, there has been a surge of research dedicated to uncovering predictors of and interventions for misinformation receptivity. One promising individual differences variable is intellectual humility (IH), which reflects a willingness to acknowledge the limitations of one’s views. Research has found that IH is correlated with less belief in misinformation, greater intentions to engage in evidence-based behaviors (e.g., receive vaccinations), and more actual engagement in evidence-based behaviors (e.g., take COVID-19 precautions). We sought to synthesize this growing area of research in a multi-level meta-analytic review (k = 27, S = 54, ES = 469, N = 33,814) to provide an accurate estimate of the relations between IH and misinformation receptivity and clarify potential sources of heterogeneity. We found that IH was related to less misinformation receptivity for beliefs (r = -.15, 95% CI [-.19, -.12]) and greater intentions to move away from misinformation (r = .13, 95% CI [.06, .19]) and behaviors that move people away from misinformation (r = .30, 95% CI [.24, .36]). Effect sizes were generally small, and moderator analyses revealed that effects were stronger for comprehensive (as opposed to narrow) measures of IH. These findings suggest that IH is one path for understanding resilience against misinformation, and we leverage our results to highlight pressing areas for future research focused on boundary conditions, risk factors, and causal implications.

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