Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 17, 2025

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
Published on: September 28, 2018
The relationship between political affiliation and beliefs about sources of "fake news"
Robert B Michael1, Brooke O Breaux2
1Department of Psychology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, PO Box 43644, Lafayette, LA, 70504-3644, USA. robert.michael@louisiana.edu.
Abstract:
The 2016 US Presidential campaign saw an explosion in popularity for the term "fake news." This phenomenon raises interesting questions: Which news sources do people believe are fake, and what do people think "fake news" means? One possibility is that beliefs about the news reflect a bias to disbelieve information that conflicts with existing beliefs and desires. If so, then news sources people consider "fake" might differ according to political affiliation. To test this idea, we asked people to tell us what "fake news" means, and to rate several news sources for the extent to which each provides real news, fake news, and propaganda. We found that political affiliation influenced people's descriptions and their beliefs about which news sources are "fake." These results have implications for people's interpretations of news information and for the extent to which people can be misled by factually incorrect journalism.
Related Concept Videos
Group Polarization
Confirmation Biases
Social Proof
Theory of Attribution I: Correspondent Inference Theory
Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Cause and Effect

