Rodrigo Ferrer-Urbina

The global spread of health-related misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to understand the psychological mechanisms that make individuals susceptible to health-related misinformation. This study examined the impact of cognitive load and individual differences on susceptibility to COVID-19 misinformation using a Signal Detection Theory framework. A sample of 634 university students evaluated true and false COVID-19 headlines under working memory load and no-load conditions, while also completing standardized assessments of cognitive reflection, epistemically unwarranted beliefs, naïve skepticism, and bullshit receptivity. Results showed that, although the working memory load manipulation successfully impaired recall and increased response time, it did not affect participants’ tendency to accept false information as true. In contrast, individual-difference variables robustly predicted misinformation susceptibility. Specifically, beliefs in pseudoscience, epistemically unwarranted beliefs, naïve skepticism, and bullshit receptivity showed moderate positive associations with false-alarm rates and negative associations with discrimination sensitivity. Cognitive reflection was negatively associated with false-alarm rates and positively with discrimination sensitivity. Only small associations were found between individual-difference dimensions and response bias. These findings suggest that stable cognitive and epistemic dispositions play a significant role in shaping people’s ability to distinguish between accurate and false health information.

The global spread of health-related misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to understand the psychological mechanisms that make individuals susceptible to health-related misinformation. This study examined the impact of cognitive load and individual differences on susceptibility to COVID-19 misinformation using a Signal Detection Theory framework. A sample of 634 university students evaluated true and false COVID-19 headlines under working memory load and no load conditions, while also completing standardized assessments of cognitive reflection, epistemically unwarranted beliefs, naıve skepticism, and bullshit receptivity. Results showed that, although the working memory load manipulation successfully impaired recall and increased response time, it did not affect participants’ tendency to accept false information as true. In contrast, individual-difference variables robustly predicted misinformation susceptibility. Specifically, beliefs in pseudoscience, epistemically unwarranted beliefs, naıve skepticism and bullshit receptivity showed moderate positive associations with false-alarm rates and negative associations with discrimination sensitivity. Cognitive reflection was negatively associated with false-alarm rates and positively with discrimination sensitivity. Only small associations were found between individual-difference dimensions and response bias. These findings suggest that stable cognitive and epistemic dispositions, rather than momentary cognitive constraints, play a more significant role in shaping people’s ability to distinguish between accurate and false health information.

The study of epistemically unwarranted beliefs (EUB) (i.e., paranormal, pseudoscientific and conspiracy beliefs) has become relevant due to the negative effects they have produced on people's health, as evidenced in the covid-19 pandemic. However, there is no instrument with appropriate and updated validity evidence for its evaluation in Latin American people. Because of this, the present study aims to develop a brief scale to analyze general epistemically unwarranted beliefs that do not depend on local factors. A total of 634 adults from five Chilean cities participated in the study. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the final structure of the Epistemically Unwarranted Beliefs Scale (EUBS) considers 9 items with three related factors. In addition, results showed good internal consistency (CFI > .95; TLI > .95; RMSEA < .07), gender invariance, and evidence of validity based on the inverse relation with the cognitive reflection test. Finally, implications for the theoretical construct and possible limitations of the scale are discussed.

Bullshit—verbal statements with little or no concern for the truth—has sparked a growing interest in individual traits, with an increase in the number of studies aimed at understanding why people are more receptive to this type of false information. This review seeks to identify variables associated with bullshit receptivity. To this end, a meta‐analysis was conducted using two databases (Web of Science and Scopus). From 451 articles reviewed, those that met the inclusion criteria were included in 12 meta‐analyses. The results (k = 46) confirmed direct associations between bullshit receptivity and factors such as motivational quotes, mundane statements, confabulations, conspiracy mentality, religious and paranormal beliefs, and/or faith in intuition. Additionally, receptivity was indirectly associated with cognitive reflection tests, verbal intelligence, and numerical abilities. These findings offer a deeper understanding of the phenomenon and identify key variables that could help mitigate bullshit receptivity.

El propósito de este trabajo es llevar a cabo una revisión de la literatura existente sobre los conceptos diversidad, aprendizaje institucional y quehacer académico para determinar, desde la perspectiva teórica, posibles relaciones entre ellos. Se postulan un conjunto de hipótesis que permiten construir mediante inducción analítica un modelo integrador. Los resultados muestran que el quehacer académico (docencia, investigación y vinculación con el medio) estaría determinado por el aprendizaje institucional: adquisición de conocimientos, distribución e interpretación de la información y desarrollo de una memoria organizacional. El aprendizaje académico, a su vez, se vería impactado por la diversidad (género, funcional, formación, liderazgo) del equipo directivo de las universidades. Se concluye que la articulación de las relaciones entre estas dimensiones tendría el potencial de robustecer los procesos y resultados académicos de las universidades, y que, frente a los cambios profundos, imparables y acelerados del contexto, el aprendizaje institucional sería un factor clave en el proceso de adaptación de estas instituciones de educación terciaria.

We used the SOI-M Multidimensional Sociosexual Orientation Inventory developed initially by Jackson and Kirkpatrick (2007) for validation in the Chilean population. This 3-dimensional instrument measures sociosexuality in terms of short-term mating orientation, long-term mating orientation and sociosexual behavior. This inventory allows us to capture the deployment of reproductive strategies in men and women simultaneously (that is, in the short and long-term). We tested the instrument's psychometric properties from a final sample of 865 subjects (247 women and 616 men) between 18 and 55 years old (M = 23.56; SD = 5.52). First, with a subsample (N=172), we performed and EFA to establish dimensionality. Then, with the remaining sample (N=693) an ESEM and CFA. We performed an ESEM for confirmatory analysis, analyzed invariance by sex and relations with other variables. We verified the existence of three factors, maintaining the 20 original items. Then, we eliminated the redundant or cross-factor loading items, thus obtaining a reduced version of 15 items and three factors. We tested and verified the convergent and divergent validity of the instrument. Also, we tested invariance by sex, establishing that the SOI-M behaves invariantly. The SOI-M is a valid and reliable instrument to measure multidimensional sociosexuality in the Chilean population.Keywords: sociosexuality, validation, psychometric properties, human mating, strategic pluralism

Background: Skepticism has traditionally been associated with critical thinking. However, philosophy has proposed a particular type of skepticism, termed naive skepticism, which may increase susceptibility to misinformation, especially when contrasting information from official sources. While some scales propose to measure skepticism, they are scarce and only measure specific topics; thus, new instruments are needed to assess this construct. Objective: This study aimed to develop a scale to measure naive skepticism in the adult population. Method: The study involved 446 individuals from the adult population. Subjects were randomly selected for either the pilot study (phase 2; n = 126) or the validity-testing study (phase 3; n = 320). Parallel analyses and exploratory structural equation modelling were conducted to assess the internal structure of the test. Scale reliability was estimated using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients Finally, a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was performed to assess invariance, and a Set- Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling was applied to estimate evidence of validity based on associations with other variables. Results: The naive skepticism scale provided adequate levels of reliability (ω > 0.8), evidence of validity based on the internal structure of the test (CFI = 0.966; TLI = 0.951; RMSEA = 0.079), gender invariance, and a moderate inverse effect on attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines. Conclusions: The newly developed naive skepticism scale showed acceptable psychometric properties in an adult population, thus enabling the assessment of naive skepticism in similar demographics. This paper discusses the implications for the theoretical construct and possible limitations of the scale.

XxEl compromiso con la clase ha cobrado gran relevancia, ya que permite visualizar el grado en que los estudiantes están involucrados con las actividades dentro del aula, producto de su motivación por aprender. Pese a ello, este constructo se ha investigado menos que otro similar pero menos específico, el compromiso escolar. Asimismo, conviene explorar sus alcances en estudiantes universitarios. El presente trabajo busca responder a estos desafíos. Concordantemente, el objetivo consiste en adaptar y validar el Classrroom Engagement Inventory (CEI, Inventario de Compromiso con la Clase) en estudiantes latinoamericanos de secundaria y educación superior. Se tradujo al español y adaptó el Classrroom Engagement Inventory, que mide cinco dimensiones de compromiso con la clase. El instrumento fue administrado a 446 estudiantes secundarios chilenos y 747 universitarios en Argentina, Bolivia y Chile (estudio 1) y, junto a otros dos instrumentos, a 130 estudiantes secundarios chilenos, para establecer evidencia de validez basada en la relación con otras variables (estudio 2). El estudio 1 implicó análisis de fiabilidad, análisis factorial confirmatorio y análisis multigrupo; el estudio 2, correlación y regresión sobre compromiso. Los resultados confirmaron la estructura de cinco factores correlacionados (compromiso afectivo, compromiso compelido, compromiso activo, compromiso cognitivo y desconexión), su invarianza entre niveles educativos y nacionalidad, y la capacidad predictiva de autoestima colectiva y atribución de causalidad sobre compromiso con la clase. Se concluye que el instrumento resulta apropiado para su uso en estudiantes latinoamericanos, tanto de secundaria como de educación superior.