This study investigates social media users’ intention to engage in user correction, that is, challenging others who post misinformation; whether this intention translates into actual behaviour; their choice of communication styles (direct or indirect) when doing so; and the influence of psychological and competency factors on that. It specifically examines the influence of the personal factors of altruism (viewing user correction as a pro-social act), empathy (as it involves correcting someone and protecting others), self-esteem (as it requires taking a stand), and social media use competency across two distinct cultural contexts: the United Kingdom (UK) and Arab Peninsula countries. Data were collected through an online survey, supported by vignettes, of 686 participants (367 British and 319 Arabs). The findings revealed a significant intention–behaviour gap in user correction across both samples. Participants in both cultural groups showed a stronger preference for indirect communication styles over direct ones. Multivariate Multiple Regression (MMR) analysis indicated that altruism and social media use competency consistently predicted both the intention to participate in and actual participation in user correction in both cultural groups. However, self-esteem significantly predicted actual participation only among UK participants, while empathy showed no significant association in either sample. Further MMR analysis revealed cultural differences in the predictors of communication style choice. In the UK, both altruism and self-esteem predicted preferences for both direct and indirect styles. In the Arab sample, social media use competency predicted a preference for the direct style, while both altruism and social media use competency predicted a preference for the indirect style. These findings highlight the critical role of cultural and psychosocial nuances in designing socio-technical interventions to promote user correction and combat the spread of misinformation.