The COVID-19 Consortium for Understanding the Public's Policy Preferences Across States
January 13, 2022
Abstract
How significant a problem is misinformation for the delivery of healthcare services? Misinformation, and any resulting misperceptions, certainly have the potential to negatively impact people's attitudes and behaviors surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whether or not someone internalizes misinformation depends on multiple factors, but one key consideration is their level of trust in established experts providing cues on COVID-19 behavior. For instance, people who do not trust sources such as the CDC will be less likely to follow its recommendations on COVID-19 prevention behaviors, and may instead opt to seek out information--which often turns out to be misinformation--on their own. Understanding the sources and effects of information and misinformation is therefore important.
Citation
Trujillo, Kristin L., Matthew Baum, David Lazer, Katherine Ognyanova, James Druckman, Roy Perlis, Mauricio Santillana, et al. "The COVID States Project #77: Healthcare workers' perception of COVID-19 misinformation." The COVID-19 Consortium for Understanding the Public's Policy Preferences Across States, January 13, 2022.