Self-Perception Of Resistance To Misinformation In The University Environment

Abstract

The ability to identify false, fabricated, deceptive, altered, or distorted information that is currently being disseminated to a greater or lesser extent by almost all types of social media will be key in efforts to eliminate its influence on social events pro futuro. The present study is an output of a pilot sociological survey among students of the College of European and Regional Studies (CZ) and the Academy of the Police Force in Bratislava (SK), determining the self-perception of university students in relation to the issue of disinformation, which provides a new research base oriented towards the need to adjust education in this area. The aim was to answer the question of whether students are able to verify the content of information, the circumstances in which it is given to them, or the interests of the author of the information, as well as whether they are ultimately able to recognize it as disinformation, and whether they even try to do so. Although some caution while receiving information has been proven, the results suggest that even if students do not take in information mindlessly, they actually doubt their ability to recognize disinformation.