UROP Project

The Role of Intellectual Humility in Evaluating and Sharing Information

Intellectual Humility, Epistemic Virtuosity, Information Processing, Information Evaluation, Information Sharing, Persuasive Arguments, Media Literacy

Research Mentor: Ms. Julia Lombard, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Psychology, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: jlombard@psy.fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Psychology preferred, although open to all majors!
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10 hours, During business hours
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable

Project Description

Modern society is rapidly changing, and the ease of access to the internet and online social networks allows individuals to obtain information and advice from others with just a few clicks. Although this technological revolution has brought immeasurable benefits, it has also introduced potential risks for internet users. Information shared online is not always subject to reliable quality control, particularly on social media platforms. Moreover, individuals may unintentionally or deliberately disseminate misinformation or low-quality information to others. Consequently, researchers have had a growing interest in identifying factors that may help individuals navigate online information more effectively and enhance media literacy more broadly.

The present study investigates whether intellectual humility (IH) may be a key factor in helping individuals evaluate information, particularly persuasive arguments, more effectively and cautiously in online environments. Often regarded as a golden mean of epistemic virtuosity, IH encompasses valuing both one's own knowledge and the knowledge of others while remaining open to revising one's own beliefs. Thus, IH can be conceptualized as a balance between intellectual arrogance, or overconfidence in one's knowledge, and intellectual servility, or insufficient confidence in one's beliefs and judgments.

Previous research has demonstrated that higher levels of IH are associated with a greater ability to distinguish between weakly and strongly framed arguments across polarized political topics, everyday domains, and, as demonstrated in our recent work, mental health contexts. Additionally, individuals higher in IH are less likely to report intentions to share false information rather than true information and weak arguments rather than strong arguments. The present project seeks to extend these findings to additional domains, particularly to more controversial and potentially polarizing topics. Further, this project examines whether IH is associated with actual information-sharing behavior, rather than just self-reported sharing intentions.

Research Tasks: Literature review, stimulus creation, and possibly data collection & analysis.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Recommended: Has taken Psychology Research Methods and understands how to complete a literature review and the ethics involved in conducting psychological research.