Overconfidence in ability to discern cancer misinformation
A Conceptual Replication and Extension
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2236512 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Benjamin Lyons (0000-0001-7096-900X, University of Utah), Andrew J King (0000-0002-2789-2550, University of Utah), Kimberly A Kaphingst (0000-0003-2668-9080, University of Utah) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-14 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Human Communication Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0360-3989 • E-ISSN: 1468-2958 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/hcr/hqaf017 |
| OpenAlex | W4412406566 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 23 |
This study conducts a conceptual replication and extension of prior research on overconfidence in discerning political misinformation, shifting focus to health. Using data from a national survey of American adults linked to web-browsing records (N=593), we investigated the prevalence and correlates of overconfidence in this domain. Consistent with earlier findings, overconfidence was most pronounced among low-performing individuals, replicating the 'Dunning-Kruger Effect.' However, decomposition analyses revealed that the associations between overconfidence and behavioral correlates-exposure to low-credibility health websites and belief in cancer-related misinformation-are primarily accounted for by deficits in actual discernment ability rather than a lack of metacognitive insight. This replication highlights the robustness of the link between poor discernment and behavioral outcomes across domains. These results highlight the need for interventions that improve evaluation skills or address underlying dispositional factors, such as distrust in science and conspiracist worldviews
Cognitive psychology · Credibility · Developmental psychology · Distrust · Epistemology · Misinformation · Overconfidence effect · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Education and Critical Thinking Development · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Clinical Psychology · Social Psychology
Uncivil Agreement
Why the unskilled are unaware
Intuition, reason, and metacognition
Overconfidence in news judgments is associated with false news susceptibility
The Alleged Crisis and the Illusion of Exact Replication
The Dunning–Kruger Effect
At the Extremes
Identifying the Effects of Unjustified Confidence versus Overconfidence
A status-enhancement account of overconfidence
The trouble with overconfidence
| Highly cited | No |
|---|