scholarly journals Reducing the spread of fake news by shifting attention to accuracy: Meta-analytic evidence of replicability and generalizability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Pennycook ◽  
David Gertler Rand
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Total N ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Cognitive Reflection ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Survey Experiments

Simply failing to consider accuracy when deciding what to share on social media has been shown to play an important role in the spread of online misinformation. Interventions that shift users’ attention towards the concept of accuracy – accuracy prompts or nudges – are therefore a promising approach to improve the quality of news content that users share and therefore reduce misinformation online. Here we test the replicability and generalizability of this effect by conducting a personal meta-analysis of 20 accuracy prompt survey experiments (total N=26,245) that our group ran using American participants between 2017 and 2020. These experiments used a wide range of different accuracy prompts tested using a large variety of headline sets and with participants recruited from qualitatively different subject pools. We find that overall, accuracy prompts increased sharing discernment (difference in sharing intentions for true relative to false headlines) by 72% relative to the control, and that this effect was primarily driven by reducing sharing intentions for false headlines (10% reduction relative to the control). The magnitude of the accuracy prompt effect on sharing discernment did not significantly differ for headlines about politics versus COVID-19, and was larger for headline sets where users were less likely to distinguish between true and false headlines at baseline. With respect to individual-level variables, the treatment effect on sharing discernment was not significantly moderated by gender, race, or political ideology, and was significantly larger for older participants, participants who were higher on cognitive reflection, and participants who passed more attention check questions. These results suggest that accuracy prompt effects are replicable and generalize across prompts and headlines, and thus offer a promising approach for fighting against misinformation.

scholarly journals Shifting attention to accuracy can reduce misinformation online

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Pennycook ◽  
Ziv Epstein ◽  
Mohsen Mosleh ◽  
Antonio Alonso Arechar ◽  
Dean Eckles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Total N ◽  
The Social ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Computational Analyses

Why do people share false and misleading news content on social media, and what can be done about it? In a first survey experiment (N=1,015), we demonstrate a disconnect between accuracy judgments and sharing intentions: Even though true headlines are rated as much more accurate than false headlines, headline veracity has little impact on sharing. Although this may seem to indicate that people share inaccurate content because, for example, they care more about furthering their political agenda than they care about truth, we propose an alternative attentional account: Most people do not want to spread misinformation, but the social media context focuses their attention on factors other than truth and accuracy. Indeed, when directly asked, most participants say it is important to only share news that is accurate. Accordingly, across four survey experiments (total N=3,485) and a digital field experiment on Twitter in which we messaged users who had previously shared news from websites known for publishing misleading content (N=5,379), we find that subtly inducing people to think about accuracy increases the quality of the news they subsequently share. These results, together with additional computational analyses, challenge the narrative that people no longer care about accuracy. Instead, the findings support our inattention-based account wherein people fail to implement their preference for accuracy due to attentional constraints – particularly on social media. Furthermore, our research provides evidence for scalable anti-misinformation interventions that are easily implementable by social media platforms.

Political bullshit receptivity and its correlates: a cross-cultural validation of the concept

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vukašin Gligorić ◽  
Allard Feddes ◽  
Bertjan Doosje
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Persuasive Communication ◽  
Lower Probability ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Total N

Frankfurt defined persuasive communication that has no regard for truth, knowledge, or evidence as bullshit. Although there has been a lot of psychological research on pseudo-profound bullshit, no study examined this type of communication in politics. In the present research, we operationalize political bullshit receptivity as endorsing vague political statements, slogans, and political bullshit programs. We investigated the relationship of these three measures with pseudo-profound bullshit, ideology (political ideology, support for neoliberalism), populism, and voting behavior. Three pre-registered studies in different cultural settings (the United States, Serbia, The Netherlands; total N = 534) yielded medium to high intercorrelations between political bullshit measures and pseudo-profound bullshit, and good construct validity (hypothesized one-factor solution). A Bayesian meta-analysis showed that all political bullshit measures positively correlated with support for the free market, while only some positively correlated with social (political statements and programs) and economic conservatism (programs), and populism (programs). In the U.S., higher receptivity to political bullshit was associated with a higher probability that one voted for Trump (vs Clinton) in the past and higher intentions to vote for Trump (vs Biden and Sanders). In the Netherlands, higher receptivity to political bullshit predicted the intention to vote for the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. Exploratory analyses on merged datasets showed that higher receptivity to political bullshit was associated with a higher probability to vote for right-wing candidates/parties and lower probability for the left-wing ones. Overall, political bullshit endorsement showed good validity, opening avenues for research in political communication, especially when this communication is broad and meaningless.

scholarly journals Beyond “fake news”: The role of analytic thinking in the detection of inaccuracy and partisan bias in news headlines

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M Ross ◽  
David Gertler Rand ◽  
Gordon Pennycook
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Analytic Thinking ◽  
Total N ◽  
Partisan Bias ◽  
News Content ◽  
Political Bias ◽  
Political Partisanship ◽  
News Headlines

Why is misleading partisan content believed and shared? An influential account posits that political partisanship pervasively biases reasoning, such that engaging in analytic thinking exacerbates motivated reasoning and, in turn, the acceptance of hyperpartisan content. Alternatively, it may be that susceptibility to hyperpartisan misinformation is explained by a lack of reasoning. Across two studies using different subject pools (total N = 1977), we had participants assess true, false, and hyperpartisan headlines taken from social media. We found no evidence that analytic thinking was associated with increased polarization for either judgments about the accuracy of the headlines or willingness to share the news content on social media. Instead, analytic thinking was broadly associated with an increased capacity to discern between true headlines and either false or hyperpartisan headlines. These results suggest that reasoning typically helps people differentiate between low and high quality news content, rather than facilitating political bias.

Clarifying the Relations between Intellectual Humility and Misinformation Susceptibility

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shauna Marie Bowes ◽  
Arber Tasimi
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Psychological Characteristics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Intellectual Humility ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Cognitive Reflection ◽  
Three Samples

Misinformation is widespread and consequential. Thus, identifying psychological characteristics that might mitigate misinformation susceptibility represents a timely and pragmatically important issue. One construct that may be particularly relevant to misinformation susceptibility is intellectual humility (IH). As such, we examined whether IH is related to less misinformation susceptibility, what aspects of IH best predict misinformation susceptibility, and whether these relations are unique to IH. Across three samples, IH tended to manifest small-to-medium negative relations with misinformation susceptibility (pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, and fake news). IH measures assessing both intrapersonal and interpersonal features tended to be stronger correlates of misinformation susceptibility than measures assessing either intrapersonal or interpersonal features in isolation. These relations tended to remain robust after controlling for covariates (honesty-humility, cognitive reflection, political ideology). Future research should leverage our results to examine whether IH interventions not only reduce misinformation susceptibility but also lessen its appeal for those already committed to misinformation.

scholarly journals Do tabloids poison the well of social media? Explaining democratically dysfunctional news sharing

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 4255-4274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Chadwick ◽  
Cristian Vaccari ◽  
Ben O’Loughlin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Civic Culture ◽  
News Article ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Status ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
News Sharing

The use of social media for sharing political information and the status of news as an essential raw material for good citizenship are both generating increasing public concern. We add to the debates about misinformation, disinformation, and “fake news” using a new theoretical framework and a unique research design integrating survey data and analysis of observed news sharing behaviors on social media. Using a media-as-resources perspective, we theorize that there are elective affinities between tabloid news and misinformation and disinformation behaviors on social media. Integrating four data sets we constructed during the 2017 UK election campaign—individual-level data on news sharing ( N = 1,525,748 tweets), website data ( N = 17,989 web domains), news article data ( N = 641 articles), and data from a custom survey of Twitter users ( N = 1313 respondents)—we find that sharing tabloid news on social media is a significant predictor of democratically dysfunctional misinformation and disinformation behaviors. We explain the consequences of this finding for the civic culture of social media and the direction of future scholarship on fake news.

scholarly journals Quality of Research Design Moderates Effects of Grade Retention on Achievement: A Meta-Analytic, Multilevel Analysis

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 480-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiharu S. Allen ◽  
Qi Chen ◽  
Victor L. Willson ◽  
Jan N. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Grade Retention ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Median Number ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Design Quality ◽  
Individual Level

The present meta-analysis examines the effect of grade retention on academic outcomes and investigates systemic sources of variability in effect sizes. Using multilevel modeling (MLM), the authors investigate characteristics of 207 effect sizes across 22 studies published between 1990 and 2007 at two levels: the study (between) and individual (within) levels. Design quality is a study-level variable. Individual-level variables are median grade retained and median number of years postretention. Quality of design is associated with less negative effects. Years postretention is negatively associated with retention effects, and this effect is stronger for studies using grade comparisons versus age comparisons. The results challenge the widely held view that retention has a negative impact on achievement. Suggestions for future research are discussed.

scholarly journals Anti-Corruption Expertise in Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Anti-Corruption Policy

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 689-698
Author(s):  
Tatyana Sudakova ◽  
Natalya Vasilyeva
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Expert Evaluation ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Irkutsk Region ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Strategic Measures ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Quantitative Indicators

The effectiveness of currently implemented wide range of strategic measures aimed at reducing the corruption and criminogenic potential in many spheres of life directly depends on their effectiveness in some key areas. The institute of anti-corruption expertise (ACE) of legislation, which now incorporates a considerable theoretical and methodological basis, requires further improvement and elimination of identified drawbacks. An almost decade of its history has been characterized by a steadily growing number of expert evaluations and the corresponding increase in the number of identified corruption-generating factors and the number of changes and amendments to normative acts. However, this dynamics is subject to controversial evaluations by analysts who talk about a routine formalistic approach and stereotyped, one-size-fits-all actions of experts and other parties involved in the multilateral mechanism of ACE. The analysis of information on the websites of professional bodies implementing ACE from the standpoint of quantitative indicators shows that this institute is effective. At the same time, the true criteria of effectiveness, connected with the improvements in the quality of the lawmaking process as a desirable result of implementing ACE, cannot be reduced to the evaluation of quantitative indicators alone. The monitoring of the effectiveness of measures implemented today within the ACE framework duly stresses the qualitative criteria of such effectiveness. Using them in the expert evaluation of municipal normative legal acts (NLA) and draft acts makes it possible to update the task of improving the quality of the lawmaking process at all levels of public administration. Municipal NLAs hold an important place both in the volume of the decisions made and the scope of public relations that they regulate, which sets the task of evaluating the quality of such acts to a new level. The analysis of the regional expert evaluation of municipal NLAs (using the example of Irkutsk Region) made it possible to compare the existing practices in this sphere and to identify typical circumstances that reduce the anti-criminogenic potential of ACE. The expertise aimed at identifying the corruption-generating factors in the law enforcement acts - in the personified decisions of the municipal bodies - is not common practice. At the same time, such NLAs at the individual level act as serious regulators of the legal sphere of peoples lives because they are connected with decisions on the provision of state support, the allocation of quotas, the distribution of expenses, etc.

scholarly journals Information Re-Sharing on Social Network Sites in the Age of Fake News

10.28945/3871 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 215-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehrdad Koohikamali ◽  
Anna Sidorova
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Social Network Sites ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Quality Of Information ◽  
Sharing Behavior

Aim/Purpose: In the light of the recent attention to the role of social media in the dissemination of fake news, it is important to understand the relationship between the characteristics of the social media content and re-sharing behavior. This study seeks to examine individual level antecedents of information re-sharing behavior including individual beliefs about the quality of information available on social network sites (SNSs), attitude towards SNS use and risk perceptions and attitudes. Methodology: Testing the research model by data collected through surveys that were adminis-tered to test the research model. Data was collected from undergraduate students in a public university in the US. Contribution: This study contributes to theory in Information Systems by addressing the issue of information quality in the context of information re-sharing on social media. This study has important practical implications for SNS users and providers alike. Ensuring that information available on SNS is of high quality is critical to maintaining a healthy user base. Findings: Results indicate that attitude toward using SNSs and intention to re-share infor-mation on SNSs is influenced by perceived information quality (enjoyment, rele-vance, and reliability). Also, risk-taking propensity and enjoyment influence the intention to re-share information on SNSs in a positive direction. Future Research: In the dynamic context of SNSs, the role played by quality of information is changing. Understanding changes in quality of information by conducting longitudinal studies and experiments and including the role of habits is necessary.

scholarly journals COMBATING INFODEMIC COVID-19: GOVERNMENT RESPONSE AGAINST FAKE NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Andi Luhur Prianto ◽  
Abdillah Abdillah ◽  
Syukri Firdaus ◽  
Muhammad Arifeen Yamad
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Literacy ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Communication Performance ◽  
Government Response ◽  
The Social ◽  
Media Channels

The global commitment to fighting the pandemic is not only about medical and epidemiological work, but also about how information about the disease is disseminated. The threat of the Covid-19 infodemic is no less dangerous than the pandemic itself. The phenomenon of infodemic has distorted the work of science and reduced public trust in state authorities. This research has identified, mapped, and analyzed official government responses to fake news attacks on social media. This study uses an interpretive-phenomenological approach, related to the spread and belief of fake news about Covid-19 in Indonesia. Data analysis uses the Nvivo-12 Pro application, as an artificial intelligence tool to support data exploration from various sources. The results show that the quality of media literacy, public communication performance, and the effectiveness of government regulations have become part of the challenges in mitigating infodemic. The level of public trust in information from social media contributes to the decline in trust in fake news about Covid-19. Stimulation from the social media news that does not control the belief in myths and false information about Covid-19. Content creators who have produced, posted, and shared on social media channels that are less critical, have an impact on the infodemic situation. The solution is to increase media literacy education and the effectiveness of law enforcement in mitigating the infodemic in Indonesia.

scholarly journals Developing an accuracy-prompt toolkit to reduce COVID-19 misinformation online

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziv Epstein ◽  
adam berinsky ◽  
Rocky Cole ◽  
Andrew Gully ◽  
Gordon Pennycook ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
User Characteristics ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Difference ◽  
False News ◽  
Demographic Subgroups ◽  
Large Survey ◽  
College Educated

Recent research suggests that shifting users’ attention to accuracy increases the quality of news they subsequently share online. Here we help develop this initial observation into a suite of deployable interventions for practitioners. We ask (i) how prior results generalize to other approaches for prompting users to consider accuracy, and (ii) for whom these prompts are more versus less effective. In a large survey experiment examining participants’ intentions to share true and false headlines about COVID-19, we identify a variety of different accuracy prompts that successfully increase sharing discernment across a wide range of demographic subgroups while maintaining user autonomy. Research questions•There is mounting evidence that inattention to accuracy plays an important role in the spread of misinformation online. Here we examine the utility of a suite of different accuracy prompts aimed at increasing the quality of news shared by social media users.•Which approaches to shifting attention towards accuracy are most effective? •Does the effectiveness of the accuracy prompts vary based on social media user characteristics? Assessing effectiveness across subgroups is practically important for examining the generalizability of the treatments, and is theoretically important for exploring the underlying mechanism.Essay summary•Using survey experiments with N=9,070 American social media users (quota-matched to the national distribution on age, gender, ethnicity, and geographic region), we compared the effect of different treatments designed to induce people to think about accuracy when deciding what news to share. Participants received one of the treatments (or were assigned to a control condition), and then indicated how likely they would be to share a series of true and false news posts about COVID-19. •We identified three lightweight, easily-implementable approaches that each increased sharing discernment (the quality of news shared, measured as the difference in sharing probability of true versus false headlines) by roughly 50%, and a slightly more lengthy approach that increased sharing discernment by close to 100%. We also found that another approach that seemed promising ex ante (descriptive norms) was ineffective. Further-more, gender, race, partisanship, and concern about COVID-19 did not moderate effectiveness, suggesting that the accuracy prompts will be effective for a wide range of demographic subgroups. Finally, helping to illuminate the mechanism behind the effect, the prompts were more effective for participants who were more attentive, reflective, engaged with COVID-related news, concerned about accuracy, college-educated, and middle-aged. •From a practical perspective, our results suggest a menu of accuracy prompts that are effective in our experimental setting and that technology companies could consider testing on their own services.

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