Strong reading skills may help teens resist misinformation
Students with stronger reading skills are better able to spot misinformation online—and those skills may be especially important for teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds, according to a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
A new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis reveals that students with stronger reading skills are better equipped to identify and resist misinformation online. This benefit is particularly significant for teenage students from disadvantaged backgrounds, according to the research. Assistant Professor Jason Jabbari, co-author of the study, emphasized that reading skills prove most valuable for disadvantaged students, as the misinformation resistance gap between students of different socioeconomic statuses is most pronounced among weaker readers.
The study, published in the journal Social Science Research, analyzed data from 232,901 teenagers in 49 countries participating in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment. The research found that stronger reading skills can narrow the socioeconomic gap in students' ability to resist misinformation, especially among disadvantaged students.
The study suggests that strengthening literacy skills could help reduce misinformation and its unequal effects, making schools an important place to support students in navigating misinformation.
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