Exposure Effects or Confirmation Bias? Examining Reciprocal Dynamics of Misinformation, Misperceptions, and Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Vaccines

ABSTRACT

This longitudinal study integrates exposure effects and confirmation bias under the theoretical framework of dynamic motivation activation (DMA) to examine the dynamic reciprocity of misinformation, misperceptions, and attitudes in the context of COVID-19 vaccination. Results from a three- national survey showed that misinformation exposure, misperceptions, and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines reinforced themselves over time. Further, misperceptions reduced subsequent pro-vaccine attitudes, and pro-vaccine attitudes in turn decreased subsequent misperceptions. Longitudinal mediation analysis also indicated that attitudes reinforced themselves through misperceptions. Surprisingly, we did not find a significant impact of misinformation exposure on subsequent misperceptions or effects of attitudes on subsequent misinformation exposure. These findings highlight the importance of addressing misperceptions regarding COVID-19 vaccines and provide insights for theoretical development in research on exposure effects and confirmation bias.

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Notes

^1. Based on the best evidence and scholarly opinions at the time of our data collection in March 2021 (CDC, 2021a; Mitze et al., 2020), this statement, “Getting tmy mask and takingcoronavirus precautionshe COVID-19 vaccine means I can stop wearing my mask and taking coronavirus precautions” was considered to be false information during the time of the study.

2. We also tested the interaction effects between party affiliation and exposure on subsequent misperceptions. After adding the interaction effects, the model fit significantly worsened (χ² (33) = 1244.06, p < .001, CFI = .789, RMSEA = .209, SRMR = .037), and the interaction effect was not statistically significant.

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Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.