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Related Experiment Videos

Processing political misinformation: comprehending the Trump phenomenon.

Briony Swire1, Adam J Berinsky2, Stephan Lewandowsky3

  • 1School of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E53-470, Cambridge, MA 20139USA; School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), Perth 6009, Australia.

Royal Society Open Science
|April 14, 2017
PubMed
Summary

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Political figures act as heuristics for truth, influencing belief in information, but not necessarily voting choices. Source credibility impacts belief updating more than explanation source.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Political Science
  • Information Processing

Background:

  • Assessing the veracity of political information is crucial for informed decision-making.
  • Political figures often serve as heuristics, influencing how individuals evaluate information.
  • Understanding belief updating mechanisms is vital in the context of political discourse.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the cognitive processing of true and false political information.
  • To examine the impact of source credibility on veracity assessment, especially from polarizing figures.
  • To evaluate the effectiveness of explanations from in-group versus out-group political sources.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments conducted prior to the 2016 US Presidential election.
Keywords:
belief updatingcontinued influence effectmisinformationmotivated cognitionsource credibility

Related Experiment Videos

  • Participants rated belief in factual and false statements attributed to a political figure.
  • Beliefs were re-evaluated after information correction or explanation, with immediate and delayed assessments.

    • Main Results:

    • Information attributed to a polarizing political figure was believed more by in-group supporters.
    • Belief in misinformation decreased after correction, but voting preferences remained unchanged.
    • Explanation source had minimal impact; initial information credibility was a stronger predictor of belief updating.

    Conclusions:

    • Individuals utilize political figures as heuristics for evaluating information truthfulness.
    • Belief in political information does not necessitate veracity as a prerequisite for candidate support.
    • Cognitive processing of political information is heavily influenced by source heuristics and perceived credibility.