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Debunking Three Myths About Misinformation
Bertram Gawronski1, Lea S Nahon1, Nyx L Ng1
1Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin.
Current Directions in Psychological Science
|February 14, 2025
Summary
People are skilled at identifying true information, contrary to common belief. Partisan bias significantly influences misinformation judgments, and skepticism towards belief-incongruent truths is more prevalent than gullibility to false information.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Information Science
Background:
- Growing research interest in misinformation susceptibility and interventions.
- Misinformation is conceptualized as a signal-detection problem for truth judgments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and challenge three common assumptions about misinformation.
- To re-evaluate the roles of discernment ability, partisan bias, and gullibility.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of public and scientific discourse on misinformation.
- Application of a signal-detection framework to truth judgments.
Main Results:
- People are generally adept at distinguishing true from false information.
- Partisan bias strongly and pervasively affects judgments of information.
- Skepticism towards belief-incongruent true information exceeds gullibility to belief-congruent false information.
Conclusions:
- Common assumptions about misinformation susceptibility are inaccurate.
- Partisan bias and motivated skepticism are key factors in belief formation.
- Findings inform the development of targeted, person-centered misinformation interventions.
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