Prebunking: A New Way to Restore Public Trust
▼ Summary
– The article introduces a monthly collection of science stories, including prebunking to restore election trust, ghost sharks’ teeth, and neutrino lasers.
– Prebunking is a strategy to “vaccinate” people against post-election conspiracy theories by providing factual information on election security measures.
– Studies involved over 5,500 participants from the US and Brazil, with groups receiving prebunking or credible sources treatments to counter false fraud claims.
– A credible sources treatment highlighted how allies of Trump or Bolsonaro affirmed election legitimacy despite their political interests, enhancing credibility.
– A third US study compared prebunking alone to prebunking with a forewarning message about specific conspiracies for the 2022 midterms and 2024 election.
It’s a familiar challenge for science communicators: so many compelling stories emerge each month that it’s impossible to give each one the attention it deserves. Rather than waiting for a year-end summary, we’re trying something new, a monthly digest of standout research. This September’s selection includes a look at how prebunking can restore public trust in election results, the mystery of ghost sharks and their unusual forehead teeth, and the use of neutrinos to produce laser beams, among other intriguing developments.
Following the 2020 U.S. presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump, false allegations of voter fraud spread widely. These claims were amplified by Trump himself and ultimately fueled the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. A strikingly similar situation unfolded two years later in Brazil, after voters ousted President Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 general election. Once again, accusations of fraud proliferated, culminating in attacks on government buildings in the capital.
So what can be done to counter such disinformation and rebuild confidence in democratic processes? A recent study published in Science Advances suggests that a “prebunking” approach could serve as a kind of psychological vaccine, preparing the public to resist viral conspiracy theories before they take hold.
The research involved more than 5,500 participants from the United States and Brazil. In the U.S., YouGov conducted the online study before the 2022 midterm elections, while Qualtrics ran the Brazilian survey after the 2022 presidential election. For the initial two studies, participants were randomly divided into two groups. One group received the prebunking intervention, which presented factual details about election security protocols designed to prevent fraud. The other group was given information about how certain political allies of Trump or Bolsonaro had publicly affirmed the legitimacy of the 2020 or 2022 election results, a “credible sources” treatment. Because these individuals confirmed the outcome despite potential political costs, their statements carried greater weight. A third study, conducted only with U.S. participants, compared prebunking alone to prebunking combined with a forewarning message that outlined specific conspiracy theories, focusing on the 2022 midterms and the upcoming 2024 general election.
(Source: Ars Technica)
