University of Athens Develops and Validates Online Tool to Measure Susceptibility to Misinformation from Fake News

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has, for the first time internationally, developed a scale for measuring individuals’ susceptibility to misinformation from fake news.

Called the Online Misinformation Susceptibility Scale, it is the fruit of research by Associate Professor Petros Galanis, PhD candidate Aglaia Katsiroumpa, Assistant Professor Polyxeni Mangoulia, Laboratory Teaching Staff Olympia Konstantakopoulou, Assistant Professor Ioannis Moisoglou, and Assistant Professor Parisis Gallos. The paper has been published in the Healthcare journal (impact factor: 2.7) and can be accessed at doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13172252.

Both the Greek and English versions of the Online Misinformation Susceptibility Scale are freely available for use at http://scholar.uoa.gr/pegalan/online-misinformation-susceptibility-scale, complete with instructions and a scoring guide.

More specifically, the Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Athens’ Department of Nursing developed and validated the Online Misinformation Susceptibility Scale, the first international tool to evaluate how users interact with content across social media and the wider web—a crucial step towards promoting accurate information in the digital space. The Scale consists of just nine simple questions and takes only two minutes to complete.

It should be noted that the development and validation of the Online Misinformation Susceptibility Scale strictly followed all scientific steps as defined by research methodology for creating a reliable and valid tool. Specifically, the Scale demonstrates (a) high validity, meaning that it indeed measures levels of susceptibility to misinformation from fake news, and (b) high reliability, meaning that it produces consistent results across repeated measurements.

Fake news influences individuals and shapes how they perceive reality and make decisions. Psychological mechanisms such as cognitive biases, emotional reactions, and social identities make people more susceptible to misleading information. People often believe or share fake news because it triggers strong emotions, such as anger or fear. To make things worse, digital platform algorithms amplify these emotions by promoting sensational content that maximizes engagement. That can confuse people, distort their understanding of facts, reduce their trust in institutions and experts, and harm their mental well-being, as continuous exposure to misinformation increases anxiety and distrust towards others and the social environment in general.

In this context, the Online Misinformation Susceptibility Scale is of crucial importance, as it enables researchers and mental health professionals to assess an individual’s susceptibility to fake news. That helps identify those who are most vulnerable. Once we know who is more susceptible to misinformation, we can design educational programmes, awareness campaigns, and strategies to enhance critical thinking specifically for these individuals. For instance, we can use the Scale before and after an educational intervention to evaluate whether susceptibility to misinformation has decreased. Additionally, individuals who understand their own level of susceptibility can become more cautious, develop information verification skills, and reduce the risk of making erroneous decisions in areas such as health, politics, or personal safety.

Click the link below to check, in just two minutes, your level of exposure to misinformation from fake news on social media and the wider web by using the Online Misinformation Susceptibility Scale:

https://chesme.limesurvey.net/739755?lang=el&newtest=Y

Alternatively, you can scan the QR Code below: