One possible benchmark is to correct for beliefs considered salient in a population, which according to Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) is at least 10% of a population. In the absence of such prevalence data, corrective efforts may do more harm than good by inadvertently increasing awareness of the problematic claim. Like those other false claims, the one asserting that taking vitamin C prevents one from contracting SARS-CoV-2 was circulating on Facebook in January 2020 (BBC Monitoring & UGC Newsgathering, 2020).īecause debunking misinformation including conspiracy theories is difficult (Chan et al., 2017), and not without potential unintended consequences (Nyhan et al., 2014), before deciding whether to debunk a conspiracy theory or other misinformation, fact-checking organizations need to know that enough people have embraced it to be worrisome. Nor, despite the claims on social media sites, does it prevent Anthrax and crib death (Kata, 2010). As a Cochrane meta-analysis confirmed (Cochrane 2013), vitamin C consumption does not even prevent the common cold “in the ordinary population,” contrary to what the commonplace claim avers. First, the finding that 21% thought that taking vitamin C probably or definitely prevents infection and 26% were unsure of whether it would or not suggests unwarranted public confidence in this supplement. However, the gaps in the public’s background knowledge that we identified should alert public health officials to the ongoing need for effective communication of needed information long before a crisis. The need for proactive communication about preventionīecause hand washing and social distancing can prevent the spread of respiratory viruses including the flu, the finding that early in March, 87% believed that these practices were preventative signals a success of public health messaging.
In addition, our data suggested an association between exposure to some kinds of media, conservative and social media in particular, and being misinformed, associations that persist when partisanship is considered. Like this work, our early March data registered differences tied to partisanship in their concern about SARS-CoV-2, specifically that Republicans were less knowledgeable about the relative lethality of SARS-CoV-2. In particular, a number of March 2020 polls showed that Republicans were less worried than were Democrats about exposure to the virus (Gallup, 2020), less likely to consider the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak a major health threat (Pew, 2020), and more likely to approve of President Donald Trump’s handling of the “coronavirus pandemic” (Marist, 2020). Pollsters have identified partisan differences in views on SARS-CoV-2. Public understanding of needed preventative measures and rejection of bogus ones is important because SARS-CoV-2 is highly contagious and potentially lethal (cdc.gov). With coverage of SARS-CoV-2 dominating discussions on air, in print, and online, between March 3 and March 8, 2020, we fielded a US national probability phone survey of 1,008 respondents to (a) determine the accuracy of the public’s understanding of the relative lethality of the seasonal flu and the coronavirus and of the need to prevent SARS-CoV-2’s spread by hand washing and avoiding those showing symptoms of respiratory illness, and (b) assess the association between use of various media channels and accurate and inaccurate beliefs and conspiracy theories about SARS-CoV-2 while controlling for potential differences between Republicans and Democrats, who have been reported to differ in concern with SARS-CoV-2 (Gallup, 2020). Does use of different types of media (e.g., mainstream, conservative, liberal traditional or social media) correlate with accurate or inaccurate information regarding SARS-CoV-2 prevention? For example: Does use of any type of media correlate with information about lethality and appropriate methods of prevention? Does the use of social media rather than either broadcast or traditional print media covary with belief in misinformation and conspiracy theories regarding SARS-CoV-2? Does use of social media or of conservative media correlate with increased belief in conspiracy theories being trafficked in these venues?.Did party identification correlate with levels of information about the lethality of the virus?.In early March 2020, how informed was the US public about ways in which one can protect oneself from SARS-CoV-2 and of its relative lethality compared to the seasonal flu?.
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