Can Media Literacy Intervention Improve Fake News Credibility Assessment? A Meta-Analysis

• DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2023.0324
• Publication Date: 2024-03-14T21:03:47Z
• Authors: Chang Lu; Bo Hu; Meng-Meng Bao; Chi Wang; Chao Bi; Xing-Da Ju
• Keywords: Deception; Humans; Mass Media; Trust

Fake news impacts individuals' behavior and decision-making while also disrupting political processes, perceptions of medical advice, and societal trends. Improving individuals' ability to accurately assess fake news can reduce its harmful effects. However, previous research on media literacy interventions designed for improving fake news credibility assessments has yielded inconsistent results. We systematically collected 33 independent studies and performed a meta-analysis to examine the effects of media literacy interventions on assessing fake news credibility (n = 36,256). The results showed that media literacy interventions significantly improved fake news credibility assessments (Hedges' g = 0.53, 95% confidence interval [0.29-0.78], p < 0.001). Gaming interventions were the most effective intervention form. Conversely, the intervention channel, outcome measurement, and subject characteristics (age, gender, and country development level) did not influence the intervention effects.