Asymmetric adjustment: Partisanship and correcting misinformation on Facebook

2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482110217
Author(s):  
Jay Jennings ◽  
Natalie Jomini Stroud
Keyword(s):  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Asymmetric Adjustment ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Step Model ◽  
Fact Checking ◽  
Insight Into

Across two studies, we test two of Facebook’s attempts to fight misinformation: labeling misinformation as disputed or false and including fact checks as related articles. We propose hypotheses based on a two-step model of motivated reasoning, which provides insight into how misinformation is corrected. For study 1 ( n = 1,262) and study 2 ( n = 1,586), we created a mock Facebook News Feed consisting of five different articles—four were actual news stories and the fifth was misinformation. Both studies tested (a) the effect of misinformation without correction, (b) Facebook’s changes to its platform, and (c) an alternative we theorized could be more effective. The findings, in line with the two-step model of motivated reasoning, provide evidence of symmetric party effects for the belief in misinformation. In both studies, we find partisan differences in responses to fact checking. We find modest evidence that our improvements to Facebook’s attempts at correcting misinformation reduce misperceptions across partisan divides.

Sorting the File Drawer: A Typology for Describing Unpublished Studies

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162097983
Author(s):  
David A. Lishner
Keyword(s):  
Decision Process ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Psychology Research ◽  
Research Dissemination ◽  
Unpublished Studies ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Publication Decision ◽  
Research Domains ◽  
File Drawer ◽  
Insight Into

A typology of unpublished studies is presented to describe various types of unpublished studies and the reasons for their nonpublication. Reasons for nonpublication are classified by whether they stem from an awareness of the study results (result-dependent reasons) or not (result-independent reasons) and whether the reasons affect the publication decisions of individual researchers or reviewers/editors. I argue that result-independent reasons for nonpublication are less likely to introduce motivated reasoning into the publication decision process than are result-dependent reasons. I also argue that some reasons for nonpublication would produce beneficial as opposed to problematic publication bias. The typology of unpublished studies provides a descriptive scheme that can facilitate understanding of the population of study results across the field of psychology, within subdisciplines of psychology, or within specific psychology research domains. The typology also offers insight into different publication biases and research-dissemination practices and can guide individual researchers in organizing their own file drawers of unpublished studies.

Analyzing Biases in Perception of Truth in News Stories and Their Implications for Fact Checking

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Mahmoudreza Babaei ◽  
Juhi Kulshrestha ◽  
Abhijnan Chakraborty ◽  
Elissa M. Redmiles ◽  
Meeyoung Cha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
News Stories ◽  
Fact Checking

Partisanship, Political Support, and Information Processing Among President Rodrigo Duterte’s Supporters and Non-Supporters

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 73-105
Author(s):  
Naomi B. Arata ◽  
Ador R. Torneo ◽  
Antonio P. Contreras
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Political Support ◽  
The Political ◽  
Test Design ◽  
Limited Impact ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Metro Manila ◽  
Fact Checking

Abstract This study investigates whether partisanship influences the cognitive processing of statements made by President Rodrigo Duterte. It adopts a pre-test/post-test design and involves 254 college students from Metro Cebu and Metro Manila Philippines. Findings suggest that partisanship significantly influenced the cognitive processing of statements attributed to President Duterte. Political support was significantly and positively associated with belief. Supporters were more likely to express belief in attributed statements. Even when informed that the statements were false, their political support did not significantly decline. Non-supporters were less likely to believe attributed statements and more likely to change their minds when shown information that the statements were false. “Motivated reasoning” or “expressive responding” may explain these findings but there is not enough data in this study to establish this. The implication is that fact-checking may have a limited impact on changing the minds or diminishing the political support of the strongly partisan.

Voluntary Exposure to Political Fact Checks

2020 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. 913-935
Author(s):  
Kyle Mattes ◽  
David P. Redlawsk
Keyword(s):  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Political Candidates ◽  
Reasoning Process ◽  
Fact Checking ◽  
Negative Campaigns

For political fact-checking enterprises to be effective, two conditions must be met. Voters must be interested in fact-checks, and the fact-checks must encourage voters to reevaluate their beliefs. Here, we study the former: whether voters are interested in reading fact-checks of political candidates’ statements. We use a simulated campaign environment in which participants’ exposure to fact-checks are voluntary. We find that voters are interested in fact-checking, especially for negative campaigns and personal (versus issue) campaigns. We also find that topics salient to voters are most often fact-checked. Finally, we provide evidence for the operation of a motivated reasoning process, as statements made by less preferred candidates were more deeply scrutinized.

scholarly journals News media stories about cancer on Facebook: How does story framing influence response framing, tone and attributions of responsibility?

2020 ◽  
pp. 136345932091281
Author(s):  
Tegan S Starr ◽  
Melissa Oxlad
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
News Media ◽  
Health News ◽  
Attributions Of Responsibility ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Attributions Of Blame ◽  
Insight Into

This content analysis explored associations between the framing of cancer-related health news stories on Facebook and their corresponding comments. It was found that regardless of story framing the majority of responses involved users engaging in debate and discussion rather than sharing personal experiences. Furthermore, stories framed episodically had a greater proportion of both supportive and unsupportive comments than stories framed thematically. As predicted, episodic stories were associated with more attributions of responsibility directed towards the individual whereas thematic stories lead to more societal-level attributions of blame. Contrary to predictions, responses did not contribute towards the stigmatisation of lung cancer, instead more responses were aimed at reducing stigma for this illness. Within the findings strong beliefs about cancer treatment and management were also identified, which raises concern over the spread of misinformation. Overall, this research provided insight into the framing of cancer news and highlighted potential implications of Facebook comments.

Infanticide in 19th-Century England

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolá Goc
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Fallen Woman ◽  
News Stories ◽  
News Reports ◽  
News Discourse ◽  
The Times ◽  
History Of Journalism ◽  
Insight Into

Throughout the history of journalism the notion of a mother killing her infant child—committing an act of infanticide—has always been high on the news values scale. In the 19th century, sensational news reports of illicit sexual liaisons, of childbirth and grisly murder, appeared regularly in the press, naming and shaming transgressive unmarried women and framing them as a danger to society. These lurid stories were published in broadsheets and the popular press as well as in respectable newspapers, including the most influential English newspaper of the century, The Times of London. In 19th-century England, The Times played a powerful role in influencing public opinion on the issue of infanticide using lurid reports of infanticide trials and coronial inquests as evidence in stirring editorials as part of their political campaign to reform the 1834 New Poor Law and repeal its pernicious Bastardy Clause, which had led to a large increase in rates of infanticide. News texts, because of their ability to capture one view of a society at a given moment in time, are a valuable historical resource and can also provide insight into journalism practices and the creation of public opinion. Infanticide court and coronial news reports provided details of the desperate murderous actions of young women and also furnished potent evidence of legal and government policy failures. The use of critical discourse analysis (CDA) in studying infanticide reports in The Times provides insight into the ways in which infanticide news stories worked as ideological texts and how journalists created understandings about illegitimacy, the “fallen woman,” infanticide, social injustice, and discriminatory gendered laws through news discourse.

scholarly journals COVID-19 & Anti-Mask Movement: How Jingoism is Bringing the United States Down

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Kim ◽  
Brian Oh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Control Variable ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Personal Rights ◽  
The Government ◽  
Insight Into

The objective of this study was to provide insight into the anti-mask phenomenon that has been occurring throughout the world. Widely broadcasted through different forms of media, these anti-mask movements are a growing concern to the scientific community, as such exposure will only deter the progress towards ending the pandemic. In order to understand the psychological motivations behind the anti-mask sentiment, the present studies 29 videos, over 120 minutes of content covering anti-mask protests in Canada, Europe, and the United States. I also used East Asia as a control variable, as I reviewed 5 videos, around 35 minutes of footage to understand the psychology that makes East Asia more receptive towards mask use. By implementing a qualitative research design, I looked for key language themes (interviews, chants, signs) in order to apply thematic analysis to connect their negative sentiments that are associated with confirmation bias and motivated reasoning. Findings regarding confirmation bias and motivated reasoning have been linked to concerns regarding personal rights and distrust with the government, media, and science communities. In particular, the United States has an issue regarding national pride in connection to individuals’ personal rights. The goal is to give insight into ways the United States can improve mask adherence for future potential pandemics.

scholarly journals Political fact-checking in the Middle East: What news can be verified in the Arab world?

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-139
Author(s):  
Abdelrahman Fakida
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
News Selection ◽  
Fact Checking ◽  
Facebook Pages

Abstract This study examines the news selection processes followed by fact-checking organizations in the Middle East, specifically Egypt, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, and gatekeeping such organizations face while working under authoritarian rule. By reviewing fact-checked news posted on the Facebook pages of six Arabic language organizations: Da Begad, HereszTruth, Fatabyyano, Matsad2sh, MisbarFC, and Saheeh Masr, this study manually analyzes about 5,000 fact-checked news stories to understand the extent of political fact-checking performed on Arab presidents, heads of government, and rulers, along with the most verified news topics. Results show that organizations in the Middle East rarely fact-check Arab rulers or refute their claims, while their news selection process prioritizes human interest topics. The study suggests that Arab fact-checkers resort to self-censorship due to gatekeeping influences that impact the region’s media climate.

scholarly journals Intentional or inadvertent fake news sharing? Fact-checking warnings and users’ interaction with social media content

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Ardèvol-Abreu ◽  
Patricia Delponti ◽  
Carmen Rodríguez-Wangüemert
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Fact Checking ◽  
False News ◽  
News Sharing

The main social media platforms have been implementing strategies to minimize fake news dissemination. These include identifying, labeling, and penalizing –via news feed ranking algorithms– fake publications. Part of the rationale behind this approach is that the negative effects of fake content arise only when social media users are deceived. Once debunked, fake posts and news stories should therefore become harmless. Unfortunately, the literature shows that the effects of misinformation are more complex and tend to persist and even backfire after correction. Furthermore, we still do not know much about how social media users evaluate content that has been fact-checked and flagged as false. More worryingly, previous findings suggest that some people may intentionally share made up news on social media, although their motivations are not fully explained. To better understand users’ interaction with social media content identified or recognized as false, we analyze qualitative and quantitative data from five focus groups and a sub-national online survey (N = 350). Findings suggest that the label of ‘false news’ plays a role –although not necessarily central– in social media users’ evaluation of the content and their decision (not) to share it. Some participants showed distrust in fact-checkers and lack of knowledge about the fact-checking process. We also found that fake news sharing is a two-dimensional phenomenon that includes intentional and unintentional behaviors. We discuss some of the reasons why some of social media users may choose to distribute fake news content intentionally.

Brand management in the era of fake news: narrative response as a strategy to insulate brand value

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam J. Mills ◽  
Karen Robson
Keyword(s):  
Brand Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Emotional Engagement ◽  
Brand Value ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Content Type ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Narrative Response ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose Brand value is increasingly threatened by fake news stories; the purpose of this paper is to explain how narrative response can be used to mitigate this threat, especially in situations where the crisis is severe and consumers are highly involved. Design/methods This conceptual paper derives recommendations and guidance for the use of narrative response based on storytelling and brand management literature. Findings This paper highlights authenticity and emotional engagement as keys to effective storytelling. Practical implications Current managerial approaches to dealing with misinformation are insufficient, as they presuppose an audience that can be convinced based on facts; this paper can be used to help brand managers respond to fake news stories when rational appeals fail. Originality/value This paper provides insight into brand management strategies in the era of fake news.

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