People with weak arithmetic-solving ability are more susceptible to believing in misinformation regarding coronavirus, a survey conducted across five countries has revealed.
Cambridge University speaking on the interesting findings from the study said the results suggest that wrong information or ‘fake news’ surrounding the virus and the pandemic can thus be curtailed if the analytical abilities of people are improved.
The survey was conducted in Ireland, Spain, Mexico, the US and the UK.
The respondents were made to sit through three sets of tests to understand the kind of information they retain, which resulted in the researchers to come to the conclusion that the most common factor which made made people susceptible to believing misinformation regarding Covid-19 was lesser numerical literacy, which essentially is the ability to rein in and apply quantitative information broadly.
Those who participated in the survey were given nine statements to assess, some of which were true and some false.