Understanding and combatting misinformation across 16 countries on six continents

Nature Human Behaviour, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 7(9), P. 1502 - 1513

Published: June 29, 2023

Language: Английский

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Reveling in Mayhem: The Need for Chaos in Pandemic Psychology

Journal of Social Issues, Journal Year: 2025, Volume and Issue: 81(1)

Published: Feb. 18, 2025

ABSTRACT The COVID‐19 pandemic is a critical challenge to public health, with authorities emphasizing the importance of measures like vaccination curb its spread. Yet, misperceptions, including distrust in scientists and conspiratorial beliefs about disease, pose significant barriers these efforts. Amid turmoil pandemic, that is, there are some who revel mayhem. Our research investigates need for chaos (NFC)—the drive disrupt societal institutions—as predictor misperceptions. In an online sample ( N = 1079 individuals), we found those high NFC also more anti‐intellectual, less cognitively sophisticated, prone thinking, COVID‐19, reported reduced willingness engage other forms disease mitigation, such as social distancing. These observations emerged while controlling ideology psychological, political, demographic variables. We find evidence relationships between COVID‐19‐specific behaviors may be explained by greater endorsement conspiracy theories (CTs). consider implications findings scientific understanding psychology, political challenges surround effective mitigation issues concerning health.

Language: Английский

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Social Media and Morality

Annual Review of Psychology, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 75(1), P. 311 - 340

Published: Oct. 31, 2023

Nearly five billion people around the world now use social media, and this number continues to grow. One of primary goals media platforms is capture monetize human attention. means by which individuals groups can attention drive engagement on these sharing morally emotionally evocative content. We review a growing body research interrelationship morality as well its consequences for society. Moral content often goes viral makes moral behavior (such punishment) less costly. Thus, acts an accelerant existing dynamics, amplifying outrage, status seeking, intergroup conflict while also potentially more constructive facets morality, such support, prosociality, collective action. discuss trends, heated debates, future directions in emerging literature.

Language: Английский

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Updating the identity-based model of belief: From false belief to the spread of misinformation

Current Opinion in Psychology, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 56, P. 101787 - 101787

Published: Jan. 9, 2024

Language: Английский

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Group-oriented motivations underlying conspiracy theories

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 27(5), P. 1050 - 1067

Published: April 7, 2024

By assuming that a group of nefarious actors collude to harm perceiver’s ingroup, conspiracy theories are an intergroup phenomenon. What the group-oriented motivations underlying belief in theories? This contribution proposes associated with both symbolic, identity-based and realistic, harm-based motivations. As symbolic motivations, help people develop, maintain, protect positive social identity. Conspiracy can unite through shared system, provide basis for favorable comparison, enable perceivers attribute ingroup status threats external forces beyond their control. realistic prepare conflict other groups. transform abstract sense distrust into concrete allegations misconduct. provides signal outgroup is threatening, mobilizes promotes readiness fight. I discuss implications these processes theory practice.

Language: Английский

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Loneliness is positively associated with populist radical right support

Social Science & Medicine, Journal Year: 2025, Volume and Issue: 366, P. 117676 - 117676

Published: Jan. 7, 2025

The mental and physical health consequences of loneliness are well documented. However, loneliness's socio-political ramifications have been largely unexplored. We theorize that loneliness, due to its physiologically dysregulating impact on the nervous system, facilitates greater susceptibility towards populist radical right parties. tested our hypothesis in 25 unique tests four population-based samples (N = 40852), spanning nine countries - Netherlands (15 tests, 2008-2023), Germany (two samples; 2017, 2018), Austria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland (all 2017). Logistic regressions were run per year country. Two internal meta-analyses run, first for Dutch sample second cross country dataset. In Netherlands, lonelier individuals more likely support across 15 years data, with 11 reaching statistical significance odds ratios ranging from 1.1 1.38. For analysis, Denmark reached (OR 1.2, 90% CI 1.01, 1.42). Due smaller sizes however, underpowered reliably detect small effects. Loneliness is positively associated Netherlands. effect comparable common correlates high blood pressure, heart diseases, depression emphasizing their relevance. Going forward, well-powered cross-national replications needed.

Language: Английский

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Historical narratives about the COVID-19 pandemic are motivationally biased

Nature, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 623(7987), P. 588 - 593

Published: Nov. 1, 2023

Language: Английский

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Evolving linguistic divergence on polarizing social media

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 11(1)

Published: March 15, 2024

Abstract Language change is influenced by many factors, but often starts from synchronic variation, where multiple linguistic patterns or forms coexist, different speech communities use language in increasingly ways. Besides regional economic reasons, may form and segregate based on political alignment. The latter, referred to as polarization, of growing societal concern across the world. Here we map quantify divergence partisan left-right divide United States, using social media data. We develop a general methodology delineate (social) users their preference, which (potentially biased) news accounts they do not follow given platform. Our data consists 1.5M short posts 10k (about 20M words) platform Twitter (now “X”). Delineating this sample involved mining for lists followers ( n = 422M) 72 large accounts. topics conversation word frequencies, messaging sentiment, lexical semantics words emoji. find signs all these aspects, especially themes conversation, line with previous research. While US American English remains largely intelligible within its community, our findings point at areas miscommunication eventually arise ongoing polarization therefore potential divergence. flexible — combining mining, lexicostatistics, machine learning, models systematic human annotation approach agnostic. In other words, while focus here divides English, same applicable countries, languages, platforms.

Language: Английский

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Examining Partisan Asymmetries in Fake News Sharing and the Efficacy of Accuracy Prompt Interventions

Published: April 14, 2022

The spread of misinformation has become a central concern in American politics. Recent studies social media sharing suggest that Republicans are considerably more likely to share fake news than Democrats. However, such inferences confounded by the far greater supply right-leaning news—Republicans may indeed be prone news, or they simply exposed it. This article disentangles these competing explanations examining intentions balanced information environment. Using large national survey YouGov respondents, we show ideologically concordant Democrats, but this gap is not enough explain differences observed online. Encouragingly, however, also find accuracy prompt interventions reduce equally effective across parties, suggesting among an intractable problem.

Language: Английский

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Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored

Published: March 4, 2024

Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of claim that misinformation is not a significant problem. We believe arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or public) as suggesting can be safely ignored. Here, we rebut two main claims, namely substantive concern (1) due its low incidence and (2) because it no causal influence on notable political behavioral outcomes. Through critical review current literature, demonstrate prevalence non-negligible reasonably inclusive definitions applied impacts important beliefs behaviors. Both scholars should therefore continue take seriously.

Language: Английский

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