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4 - Why Do People Believe and Share Misinformation?

from Part II - Misinformation Belief and Spread

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2024

Jon Roozenbeek  and
Sander van der Linden
Jon Roozenbeek
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Sander van der Linden
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

This chapter discusses the individual-level and societal-level factors that underlie why people believe and share misinformation, including analytical and open-minded thinking, political partisanship, trust, political and affective polarization, psychological appeal, repetition, emotion, and intergroup sentiment. We look at misinformation belief and sharing separately: just because someone believes a false claim to be true doesn’t mean they’ll share it on social media, and someone sharing a piece of misinformation doesn’t always mean they also believe it.

Keywords

misinformationbeliefsharingidentityanalytical thinkingtrust
Type
Chapter
Information
The Psychology of Misinformation , pp. 57 - 71
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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