Prebunking misinformation, perceptions about electoral security, and voting intentions: a quantitative study

Misinformation exposure has resulted in many adverse effects, including compromised electoral processes, and scholars are examining the effectiveness of pre-emptive measures as a solution to this problem. This study investigated if there is any relationship between prebunking misinformation about election security and people's belief in the integrity of the electoral process and their intention to vote. An experiment embedded in a survey was administered to undergraduate participants (N = 340) who were randomly assigned to three groups: Inoculation, Misinformation, and Control groups. Inoculation group participants were shown a prebunking message followed by five misinformation messages. Misinformation group participants received only the misinformation messages, while the control group received some general messages related to health. All participants were then asked about their perceptions of election security and malpractices and their future intention to vote. ANOVA was used to test group differences, and no significant differences were found on the three dependent variables – belief in election security, belief in election malpractices, and future voting intention. Additional analysis was done, and significant correlations were found between people's ability to identify misinformation and their future voting intentions, and among people's political ideology, perceptions of electoral malpractices, belief in election security, and their future voting intentions.