Debunking HandbookPeople often look to familiar societal contexts and personal in-group (friends, family, social group) for information. Fact-checking can reduce people’s beliefs in false information. However, misinformation often continues to influence people’s thinking even after they receive and accept a correction—this is known as the “continued influence effect." Even if a factual correction seems effective—because people acknowledge it and it is clear that they have updated their beliefs—people frequently rely on the misinformation in other contexts, for example when answering questions only indirectly related to the misinformation. It is therefore important to use the most effective debunking approaches to achieve maximal impact.
