Understanding Susceptibility to Misinformation in Young Adulthood

The spread of misinformation poses a societal challenge, giving rise to concerns regarding younger generations who grow into adulthood immersed in digital environments. In this study we combined scientific insights with participatory research (focus groups with youth and interviews with parents and police officers) to identify risk and protective factors in misinformation susceptibility. A total of n = 1980 participants aged 18 to 34 completed the Misinformation Susceptibility Test alongside validated measures of cognitive, social and ideological scales. Results showed that more social media use, more conservative political orientation, and higher bullshit receptivity predicted poorer veracity discernment, while higher education, greater need to belong, more openminded thinking and identifying as male predicted better discernment. Importantly, not all forms of social media use predicted equal veracity discernment, with active engagement (e.g., posting and reacting) being associated with worse veracity, while passive engagement (e.g., browsing) was associated with better veracity. In addition, results from a network analysis suggested that digital maturity may exert indirect beneficial effects on veracity discernment. These findings underscore that misinformation susceptibility is shaped by a constellation of cognitive, social, educational, and ideological factors. Beyond fostering education and analytic reasoning skills, interventions may need to target digital behaviors, peer norms and social motivational needs to build resilience against misinformation in young adult populations.