Intellectual humility is associated with greater misinformation discernment and metacognitive insight but not response bias

There is growing evidence that intellectual humility is associated with reduced misinformation susceptibility. However, a key aspect of intellectual humility is awareness of one’s own limitations, which may increase cautious responding (e.g., tendency to label headlines false or withhold responses, regardless of headline veracity or response accuracy). Therefore, the present study used signal detection theory to disentangle discernment and response bias, and examine the relationships between intellectual humility, misinformation discernment, and metacognitive discernment (i.e., ability to discern between one’s own correct and incorrect responses). Participants (N = 246) assessed the truthfulness of 60 news headlines (30 true, 30 false; misinformation discernment) and decided whether to report or withhold each truthfulness judgment (metacognitive discernment). Participants also completed three intellectual-humility scales. Intellectual humility was related to greater misinformation discernment and metacognitive discernment, but not to response bias. These findings suggest intellectual humility is associated with reduced misinformation susceptibility due to improved discernment of true and false claims and not response bias. Moreover, the finding that self-reported intellectual humility positively related to metacognitive discernment supports the validity of the intellectual-humility scales. Cumulatively, results highlight the benefits of intellectual humility and suggest future research should examine whether interventions that increase intellectual humility are an effective approach for countering misinformation.