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<p>The spread of dis/misinformation represents a pressing challenge for contemporary society. Addressing this phenomenon requires digital tools as well as an understanding of the mechanisms that enable it. Among the psychosocial mechanisms, the detrimental role of moral disengagement is becoming increasingly evident. Through these mechanisms, people can justify the creation and sharing of misleading news by minimizing its effects and normalizing such behaviors in online social interactions. Moreover, this issue is particularly relevant for adolescents, who are not yet fully equipped to navigate the traps and risks of the digital world. The present study aims to explore how prosocial conversational agents designed for helping adolescents in dealing with dis/misinformation in online social settings can reduce reliance on moral disengagement and the intention of sharing misleading news. Specifically, a prosocial conversational agent was designed to enhance adolescents’ awareness of online risks and to support them in applying prosocial communication strategies - that is, in conveying what they had learned to help others avoid falling into online traps. In a sample of 391 adolescents (53.2% girls) with a mean age of 13.27 years (SD = 0.69), we analyzed the pattern of associations linked to conversational interaction with the prosocial agent, while controlling for adolescents’ initial differences, as well as differences in the quality of their interaction with the agent. Results from a path analysis model show that perceiving conversational agents as an agentic model was positively associated with prosocial communicative responses aimed at helping another party. In turn, prosocial communicative responses were associated with reduced reliance on moral disengagement and lower misleading news sharing intention. Overall, the findings suggest that the use of prosocial conversational agents may represent a promising direction for future research in counteracting moral disengagement and combating dis/misinformation by fostering awareness and prosocial communicative strategies during adolescence, a critical phase in which technologies can become a valuable tool for engaging with digital-native generations.</p>

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Countering dis/misinformation sharing by hindering moral disengagement in adolescence: the role of prosocial conversational modeling

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年8月5日

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  • Marinella Paciello,
  • Giuseppe Corbelli,
  • Carmela Sportelli,
  • Paolo Giovanni Cicirelli,
  • Francesca D’Errico

摘要

The spread of dis/misinformation represents a pressing challenge for contemporary society. Addressing this phenomenon requires digital tools as well as an understanding of the mechanisms that enable it. Among the psychosocial mechanisms, the detrimental role of moral disengagement is becoming increasingly evident. Through these mechanisms, people can justify the creation and sharing of misleading news by minimizing its effects and normalizing such behaviors in online social interactions. Moreover, this issue is particularly relevant for adolescents, who are not yet fully equipped to navigate the traps and risks of the digital world. The present study aims to explore how prosocial conversational agents designed for helping adolescents in dealing with dis/misinformation in online social settings can reduce reliance on moral disengagement and the intention of sharing misleading news. Specifically, a prosocial conversational agent was designed to enhance adolescents’ awareness of online risks and to support them in applying prosocial communication strategies - that is, in conveying what they had learned to help others avoid falling into online traps. In a sample of 391 adolescents (53.2% girls) with a mean age of 13.27 years (SD = 0.69), we analyzed the pattern of associations linked to conversational interaction with the prosocial agent, while controlling for adolescents’ initial differences, as well as differences in the quality of their interaction with the agent. Results from a path analysis model show that perceiving conversational agents as an agentic model was positively associated with prosocial communicative responses aimed at helping another party. In turn, prosocial communicative responses were associated with reduced reliance on moral disengagement and lower misleading news sharing intention. Overall, the findings suggest that the use of prosocial conversational agents may represent a promising direction for future research in counteracting moral disengagement and combating dis/misinformation by fostering awareness and prosocial communicative strategies during adolescence, a critical phase in which technologies can become a valuable tool for engaging with digital-native generations.