KCOE 4435 - Social influence, resilience and digital self-efficacy
KCOE 4435 · Spring semester 2025-2026
- Language of tuition
- English
- Course type
- Cours séminaire
- Number of hours
- 12
- Credits
- 2
Information
Description
This six-session series aims to explore how psychological science can help communicators design
ethical, resilient, and evidence-based strategies in an age of misinformation, polarisation, and
AI-mediated influence. Drawing from social psychology, cognitive science, and communication
research, the course introduces students to the principles of persuasion and resistance to persuasion,
translating theory into practical tools for the modern communication landscape. The series integrates
insights from my recent work on inoculation theory, prebunking, and digital self-efficacy. Students will
gain both conceptual grounding and applied skills for designing communication that informs,
protects, and empowers citizens in the digital age.
Prerequisites
No specific prior knowledge required. Basic familiarity with social psychology or communication is helpful but not essential.
Teaching format
Short lectures, guided discussions, case study work, and interactive exercises. Students apply concepts directly through weekly readings, group debate, and practical analysis of real-world incidences of social influence.
Assessment
Evaluation is based on two components.
- Active contribution to seminar discussions, demonstrating engagement with course readings and concepts (20%).
- A case-study assignment based on short-term engagement with an AI-powered system (e.g. a social companion or generative communication product). Students submit a four-page analytical paper outlining key benefits, risks, and recommendations, supported by transcripts or excerpts from the interaction (80%).
Workload
Weekly required readings, active participation, and preparation for the final project. Estimate: 3 hours independent work per week.
Readings
Main readings 5
-
1Basol, M., Roozenbeek, J., Berriche, M., Uenal, F., McClanahan, W. P., & van der Linden, S. (2021). Towards psychological herd immunity: Cross-cultural evidence for two prebunking interventions against COVID-19 misinformation. Big Data & Society.
-
Basol, Melisa, 'Designing AI for humans: preventing manipulation and protecting digital agency' (13 Aug. 2025), in Sam De Silva, and others (eds), Expert Essentials
-
Ecker, U. K., Lewandowsky, S., Cook, J., Schmid, P., Fazio, L. K., Brashier, N., ... & Amazeen, M. A. (2022). The psychological drivers of misinformation belief and its resistance to correction. Nature Reviews Psychology, 1(1), 13-29.
-
Kozyreva, et al. (2024). Toolbox of Interventions Against Online Misinformation and Manipulation. Nature Human Behavior.
-
van der Linden, S. (2022). Misinformation: susceptibility, spread, and interventions to immunize the public. Nature Medicine, 28, 460–467.
Further readings 12
-
Appel, R. E., Roozenbeek, J., Rayburn-Reeves, R., Basol, M., Corbin, J., Compton, J., & van der Linden, S. (2025). Psychological inoculation improves resilience to and reduces willingness to share vaccine misinformation. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 29830.
-
Axelsson, C.-A. W., Nygren, T., Roozenbeek, J., & van der Linden, S. (2025). Bad News in the civics classroom: How serious gameplay fosters teenagers’ ability to discern misinformation techniques. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 57(5), 992–1018.
-
Carroll, M., Chan, A., Ashton, H., & Krueger, D. (2023, October). Characterizing manipulation from AI systems. In Proceedings of the 3rd ACM Conference on Equity and Access in Algorithms, Mechanisms, and Optimization (pp. 1-13).
-
Goldstein, J., et. al. (2023). Generative Language Models and Automated Influence Operations:Emerging Threats and Potential Mitigations. Stanford Internet Observatory. Read only: Sections 1-1.2, 3.1, 4-4.1.3
-
Hassoun et al. (2024). The Influencer Next Door: How Misinformation Creators Use GenAI. ArXiv, forthcoming New Media and Society
-
Klincewicz, M., Alfano, M., & Fard, A. E. (2025). Slopaganda: The interaction between propaganda and generative AI. arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.01560.
-
M. Sultan, A.N. Tump, N. Ehmann, P. Lorenz-Spreen, R. Hertwig, A. Gollwitzer, & R.H.J.M. Kurvers, Susceptibility to online misinformation: A systematic meta-analysis of demographic and psychological factors, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 121 (47) e2409329121, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2409329121 (2024).
-
Milano, S., Taddeo, M. & Floridi, L. Recommender systems and their ethical challenges. AI & Soc 35, 957–967 (2020).
-
Pataranutaporn, P., Liu, R., Finn, E., & Maes, P. (2023). Influencing human–AI interaction by priming beliefs about AI can increase perceived trustworthiness, empathy and effectiveness. Nature Machine Intelligence, 5(10), 1076-1086.
-
Professional fact checks: Porter E, Wood TJ. (2021). The global effectiveness of fact-checking: Evidence from simultaneous experiments in Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.
-
Simchon, A., Zipori, T., Teitelbaum, L., Lewandowsky, S., & van der Linden, S. (2025). A Signal Detection Theory Meta-Analysis of Psychological Inoculation Against Misinformation. Current Opinion in Psychology, 102194.
-
Uscinski, J., et al. (2022). The psychological and political correlates of conspiracy theory beliefs. Sci Rep 12, 21672
Teaching units
| Unit no. | Unit type | Teaching units | Teachers | Number of hours | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59004 | Cours séminaire | Social influence, resilience and digital self-efficacy | Melisa BASOL | 12 | 2 |
Teachers
- Melisa BASOL
In the curricula
- MASTER COMMUNICATION, MÉDIAS ET INDUSTRIES CRÉATIVES - SEMESTRE 4 (2025-2026)ÉCOLE DU MANAGEMENT ET DE L'IMPACT (EMI)
- MASTER IN COMMUNICATIONS, MEDIA AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES - SEMESTER 4 (2025-2026)ÉCOLE DU MANAGEMENT ET DE L'IMPACT (EMI)
Contacts and resources
- Contact
- KOBBI Ahlème