Are we willing to share what we believe is true? Factors influencing susceptibility to fake news

2023
journal article
article
2
dc.abstract.enBackground: The contemporary media landscape is saturated with the ubiquitous presence of misinformation. One can point to several factors that amplify the spread and dissemination of false information, such as blurring the line between expert and layman's opinions, economic incentives promoting the publication of sensational information, the zero cost of sharing false information, and many more. In this study, we investigate some of the mechanisms of fake news dissemination that have eluded scientific scrutiny: the evaluation of veracity and behavioral engagement with information in light of its factual truthfulness (either true or false), cognitive utility (either enforcing or questioning participants' beliefs), and presentation style (either sober or populistic). Results: Two main results emerge from our experiment. We find that the evaluation of veracity is mostly related to the objective truthfulness of a news item. However, the probability of engagement is more related to the congruence of the information with the participants' preconceived beliefs than to objective truthfulness or information presentation style. Conclusion: We conclude a common notion that the spread of fake news can be limited by fact-checking and educating people might not be entirely true, as people will share fake information as long as it reduces the entropy of their mental models of the world. We also find support for the Trojan Horse hypothesis of fake news dissemination.
dc.affiliationWydział Nauk o Zdrowiu : Instytut Pielęgniarstwa i Położnictwapl
dc.cm.date2023-08-24T22:17:40Z
dc.cm.id113012pl
dc.cm.idOmegaUJCM34161116f3a54860aaf1f22a3de8b715pl
dc.contributor.authorPiksa, Michalpl
dc.contributor.authorNoworyta-Sokołowska, Karolinapl
dc.contributor.authorGundersen, Aleksander B.pl
dc.contributor.authorKunst, Jonaspl
dc.contributor.authorMorzy, Mikolajpl
dc.contributor.authorPiasecki, Jan - 114409 pl
dc.contributor.authorRygula, Rafalpl
dc.date.accession2023-08-24pl
dc.date.accessioned2023-08-24T22:17:40Z
dc.date.available2023-08-24T22:17:40Z
dc.date.issued2023pl
dc.date.openaccess0
dc.description.accesstimew momencie opublikowania
dc.description.versionostateczna wersja wydawcy
dc.description.volume14pl
dc.identifier.articleid1165103pl
dc.identifier.doi10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1165103pl
dc.identifier.eissn1664-0640pl
dc.identifier.issn1664-0640pl
dc.identifier.urihttps://ruj.uj.edu.pl/xmlui/handle/item/317984
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1165103pl
dc.languageengpl
dc.language.containerengpl
dc.pbn.affiliationDziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu : nauki o zdrowiu
dc.rightsUdzielam licencji. Uznanie autorstwa 4.0 Międzynarodowa
dc.rights.licenceCC-BY
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.pl
dc.share.typeOtwarte czasopismo
dc.subject.enmisinformation
dc.subject.enfake news
dc.subject.ensusceptibility
dc.subject.encognitive utility
dc.subject.entruthfulness
dc.subject.enCOVID-19
dc.subject.ensocial media
dc.subtypeArticlepl
dc.titleAre we willing to share what we believe is true? Factors influencing susceptibility to fake newspl
dc.title.journalFrontiers in Psychiatrypl
dc.typeJournalArticlepl
dspace.entity.typePublication
dc.abstract.en
Background: The contemporary media landscape is saturated with the ubiquitous presence of misinformation. One can point to several factors that amplify the spread and dissemination of false information, such as blurring the line between expert and layman's opinions, economic incentives promoting the publication of sensational information, the zero cost of sharing false information, and many more. In this study, we investigate some of the mechanisms of fake news dissemination that have eluded scientific scrutiny: the evaluation of veracity and behavioral engagement with information in light of its factual truthfulness (either true or false), cognitive utility (either enforcing or questioning participants' beliefs), and presentation style (either sober or populistic). Results: Two main results emerge from our experiment. We find that the evaluation of veracity is mostly related to the objective truthfulness of a news item. However, the probability of engagement is more related to the congruence of the information with the participants' preconceived beliefs than to objective truthfulness or information presentation style. Conclusion: We conclude a common notion that the spread of fake news can be limited by fact-checking and educating people might not be entirely true, as people will share fake information as long as it reduces the entropy of their mental models of the world. We also find support for the Trojan Horse hypothesis of fake news dissemination.
dc.affiliationpl
Wydział Nauk o Zdrowiu : Instytut Pielęgniarstwa i Położnictwa
dc.cm.date
2023-08-24T22:17:40Z
dc.cm.idpl
113012
dc.cm.idOmegapl
UJCM34161116f3a54860aaf1f22a3de8b715
dc.contributor.authorpl
Piksa, Michal
dc.contributor.authorpl
Noworyta-Sokołowska, Karolina
dc.contributor.authorpl
Gundersen, Aleksander B.
dc.contributor.authorpl
Kunst, Jonas
dc.contributor.authorpl
Morzy, Mikolaj
dc.contributor.authorpl
Piasecki, Jan - 114409
dc.contributor.authorpl
Rygula, Rafal
dc.date.accessionpl
2023-08-24
dc.date.accessioned
2023-08-24T22:17:40Z
dc.date.available
2023-08-24T22:17:40Z
dc.date.issuedpl
2023
dc.date.openaccess
0
dc.description.accesstime
w momencie opublikowania
dc.description.version
ostateczna wersja wydawcy
dc.description.volumepl
14
dc.identifier.articleidpl
1165103
dc.identifier.doipl
10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1165103
dc.identifier.eissnpl
1664-0640
dc.identifier.issnpl
1664-0640
dc.identifier.uri
https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/xmlui/handle/item/317984
dc.identifier.weblinkpl
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1165103
dc.languagepl
eng
dc.language.containerpl
eng
dc.pbn.affiliation
Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu : nauki o zdrowiu
dc.rights
Udzielam licencji. Uznanie autorstwa 4.0 Międzynarodowa
dc.rights.licence
CC-BY
dc.rights.uri
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.pl
dc.share.type
Otwarte czasopismo
dc.subject.en
misinformation
dc.subject.en
fake news
dc.subject.en
susceptibility
dc.subject.en
cognitive utility
dc.subject.en
truthfulness
dc.subject.en
COVID-19
dc.subject.en
social media
dc.subtypepl
Article
dc.titlepl
Are we willing to share what we believe is true? Factors influencing susceptibility to fake news
dc.title.journalpl
Frontiers in Psychiatry
dc.typepl
JournalArticle
dspace.entity.type
Publication
Affiliations

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