Table 1 Study sample demographics and the percentage of correctly identified myths or facts

Overall

734

49.4

70.4

Province (p-value)

< 0.001

0.47

Ontario

351 (47.8)

47.7

70.2

British Columbia

131 (17.9)

50.2

72.4

Alberta

118 (16.1)

54.1

70.2

Manitoba and Saskatchewan

58 (7.9)

49.3

69.1

Quebec

41 (5.6)

46.6

69.7

Atlantic Canada (NB, NL, NS, PE)

35 (4.8)

51.9

68.4

Gender (p-value)

< 0.001

0.29

Man

360 (49.1)

49.4

70.0

Woman

352 (48.0)

48.8

71.0

Other

22 (3.0)

61.8

66.4

Population density (missing n = 2)(p-value)

0.28

0.026

Metropolitan center (population of 1 million or more)

224 (30.1)

49.8

72.2

Large city (population from 250,000 to < 1 million)

272 (37.2)

48.5

70.5

Small town (population from 50,000 to < 250,000)

162 (22.1)

50.0

69.2

Rural (population of less than 50,000)

67 (9.2)

51.8

67.5

Prefer not to say

7 (1.0)

46.2

58.6

Ethnicity (p-value)

< 0.001

< 0.001

White

411 (56.0)

50.4

72.3

Chinese

80 (10.9)

46.3

72.0

South East Asian

50 (6.8)

52.0

66.8

South Asian

48 (6.5)

47.3

67.2

Mixed

44 (6.0)

53.3

65.1

Black

33 (4.5)

39.8

62.3

Other (includes prefer not to say)

68 (9.3)

49.6

68.5

Income (missing n = 6)(p-value)

0.18

0.001

Less than $20,000

52 (7.1)

46.8

74.1

$20,000 to $39,999

86 (11.8)

49.9

66.4

$40,000 to $59,999

112 (15.4)

52.0

71.9

$60,000 to $79,999

104 (14.3)

48.6

70.6

$80,000 to $99,999

100 (13.7)

50.7

69.7

$100,000 to $119,999

80 (11.0)

48.7

65.6

$120,000 or more

131 (18.0)

49.6

74.4

Prefer not to say

63 (8.7)

47.4

69.1

Continuous variables

Mean (Range)

% correctly identified

Myths

Facts

Age

31.3 (18–78)

< 0.001

0.002

18–25 (n = 289)

50.4

67.4

26–35 (n = 232)

49.5

72.1

36–45 (n = 129)

51.0

72.8

> 45 (n = 84)

43.5

72.0

Thinking disposition scores^a

^b

Close-Minded Thinking

6–10 (n = 154, 21.0%)

11–15 (n = 337, 45.9%)

16–20 (n = 174, 23.7%)

21–30 (n = 69, 9.4%)

14.0 (6–28)

8.4 (IQR 3.0)

13.0 (IQR 2.0)

17.7 (IQR 2.0)

22.6 (IQR 2.0)

< 0.001

54.3

51.1

44.0

44.8

< 0.001

74.5

71.2

66.4

66.9

Actively Open-minded Thinking

11–15 (n = 55, 7.5%)

16–20 (n = 198, 27.0%)

21–25 (n = 315, 42.9%)

26–30 (n = 166, 22.6%)

22.2 (11–30)

13.7 (IQR 2.0)

18.5 (IQR 2.0)

23.3 (IQR 2.0)

28.4 (IQR 3.0)

< 0.001

42.7

45.4

50.1

56.7

< 0.001

65.6

64.9

72.3

75.3

Preference for Effortful Thinking

10–15 (n = 41, 5.6%)

16–20 (n = 120, 16.4%)

21–25 (n = 390, 53.1%)

26–30 (n = 183, 24.9%)

23.0 (10–30)

13.4 (IQR 3.0)

18.6 (IQR 2.0)

23.6 (IQR 3.0)

28.5 (IQR 2.0)

< 0.001

46.1

45.2

50.2

51.8

< 0.001

66.0

65.1

70.3

77.1

Preference for Intuitive Thinking

6–12 (n = 85, 11.6%)

13–17 (n = 218, 29.7%)

18–22 (n = 299, 40.7%)

23–30 (n = 132, 18.0%)

18.1 (6–30)

10.3 (IQR 3.0)

15.2 (IQR 2.0)

20.3 (IQR 3.0)

24.6 (IQR 1.0)

< 0.001

58.1

54.3

45.9

42.6

< 0.001

74.6

72.7

68.9

66.3