The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt across the globe. While health experts work to spread life-saving information, misinformation and fake news about the virus undermine these efforts. What actions can people take when confronting COVID-19 misinformation, and what factors motivate people to take these actions? We propose that people can engage in investigative behaviors (e.g., fact-checking, seeking alternative opinions) to scrutinize the validity of the information they encounter, and we examine intellectual humility as a predictor of these important behaviors. In three studies (N = 1,232) examining both behavioral intentions (Studies 1 and 2) and real behavior (Study 3), we find that those higher in intellectual humility are more likely to engage in investigative behaviors in response to COVID-19 misinformation.

全球已感受到COVID-19大流行的影响。尽管卫生专家致力于传播挽救生命的信息，但有关该病毒的错误信息和虚假消息破坏了这些努力。人们在面对COVID-19错误信息时可以采取什么行动，哪些因素促使人们采取这些行动？我们建议人们可以进行调查性行为（例如，事实检查，寻求替代意见）以检查他们所遇到的信息的有效性，并且我们将智力谦逊作为这些重要行为的预测指标。在三项研究（ñ = 1,232）同时考察了行为意图（研究1和2）和真实行为（研究3），我们发现，知识谦逊的人更有可能对COVID-19错误信息进行调查。