Framing fact-checks as a “confirmation” increases engagement with corrections of misinformation: a four-country study

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Published in Nature

AUTHORS
Natalia Aruguete, Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes UNQ, 1876, Bernal, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Flavia Batista, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland UMD, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
Ernesto Calvo, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland UMD, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
Matias Guizzo-Altube, Research Department, Inter-American Development Bank IDB, Washington, DC, 20577, USA
Carlos Scartascini, Research Department, Inter-American Development Bank IDB, Washington, DC, 20577, USA
Tiago Ventura, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20057, USA

ABSTRACT
Previous research has extensively investigated why users spread misinformation online, while less attention has been given to the motivations behind sharing fact-checks. This article reports a four-country survey experiment assessing the influence of confirmation and refutation frames on engagement with online fact-checks. Respondents randomly received semantically identical content, either affirming accurate information (“It is TRUE that p”) or refuting misinformation (“It is FALSE that not p”). Despite semantic equivalence, confirmation frames elicit higher engagement rates than refutation frames. Additionally, confirmation frames reduce self-reported negative emotions related to polarization. These findings are crucial for designing policy interventions aiming to amplify fact-check exposure and reduce affective polarization, particularly in critical areas such as health-related misinformation and harmful speech. MORE