US Soldiers' Individual and Unit-level Factors Associated with Perceptions of Disinformation in the Military Context.
Farifteh Firoozmand DuffyGerald P McDonnellMargeaux V AuslanderStephanie A BricaultPaul Y KimNicholas W RachlinPhillip J QuartanaPublished in: Military medicine (2023)
While the majority of soldiers viewed disinformation as a problem across the Army, fewer perceived it as problematic within their units. Higher levels of reported fact-checking were most evident among those who perceived disinformation as a problem, suggesting that enhancing awareness of the problem of disinformation alone could help mitigate its deleterious impact. Perceptions of disinformation problems within units were associated with soldiers' perceptions of lower unit cohesion and readiness, highlighting misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information's impact on force readiness. Limitations and future directions are discussed.