A RAND study released this week offers more evidence that both-sidesism does not belong in an honest discussion of fake news and propaganda in the U.S. People on the Right are simply more apt to fall for it than those on the Left, the research shows, and for a number or reasons.
Susceptibility to conspiracy theories and fake news has already been linked by researchers to people in minority groups and lower income brackets. And higher income, higher education levels, and whiteness have been linked to greater resistance to such beliefs. But linking the appetite for, and susceptibility to, fake news and propaganda to Republicanism has until now been elusive.
We found some of it on both sides, on the left and the right, says RAND researcher and report author Luke Matthews. But we found more of it on the Trump voting Republican side.
The researchers surveyed 1,333 Americans from a carefully balanced set of demographic groups from February 26 through March 13, 2019. Respondents who had internet access took an online survey; those who didnt were provided a tablet computer on which to respond to questions.
RAND sat out to find what kinds of cognitive bias and reasoning functionality were most reliably associated with susceptibility to misinformation in different kinds of people.
Cognitive biases are systematic patterns of deviation from norm and/or rationality in judgment, says the Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. RAND screened for a number of bias types, including ingroup bias, which refers to tendencies to lean toward beliefs favored by groups that share a language, religion, or nationality.
The researchers also looked for connections between peoples comfort level with numbers, or science, or magical thinking and the propensity for believing misinformation. As it turned out, Matthews tells me, it was the presence or absence of these reasoning abilities that provided the best predictors of peoples susceptibility to misinformation.
It foundnot surprisinglythat people who demonstrated more numeric and scientific literacy, and less magical reasoning, were less likely to swallow misinformation and disinformation. And it found these people collected in certain demographic and political groups.
Resistance to Truth Decay . . . was associated with having a higher income, identifying as White, voting for Clinton in 2016, and being less religious, the report states. By truth decay RAND means, broadly, a willingness to believe falsehoods, and a resistance to authoritative sources of information such as scientists and other experts.
The reasoning processes that are predictive of belief in things like birtherism, plandemic, and trutherism are not gained or lost suddenly with the support of a particular candidate or cause, the report stresses, but rather are developed over an individuals lifetime and are all at least somewhat adaptive . . . This, of course, points to the role of the education system to teach things like critical thinking and media literacy to children and adolescents early and often.
Society needs to be better at developing informed and critically thinking citizens who can appropriately process the rapid media environments in which information consumers must now operate, the report authors write.
RANDs GOP-misinformation connection is made even more credible because the RAND researchers didnt go out looking for that specifically. Thats not what we set out to study but thats what we found, Matthews tells Fast Company. He said his team had to study all possible connections between demographic and political groups to make sure the connections they found could not be undercut by claims that truth decay is actually caused by some factor the group didnt study.
The report is part of RANDs Countering Truth Decay initiative, which considers the diminishing role of facts and analysis in political and civil discourse and the policymaking process. The original report in the series was published in January 2018 and laid out a research agenda for studying and developing solutions to the Truth Decay challenge.
We need to have these political conversations and debates, Matthews says. We can have the debate about politics and policy, we can have political disagreements and disagreements over values, but we need to have a basic agreement about what the facts actually are.
This aspect of American life, the capacity for citizens to argue well and respectfully, is arguably what has made American democracy work. That public trust has been badly diminished.
Politics has gotten so hyperpartisan, Matthews says. Its gotten people detached from what facts actually are.
Original post:
RAND finds that Republicans are more prone to misinformation - Fast Company
- France Takes Legal Action Against Israeli Fake News Firm Revealed by Haaretz - Israel Did Nothing - National Security ... - Haaretz - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Totally Not Fake News: Airing of grievances...Houston Texans and otherwise - Battle Red Blog - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Fake news sites, misinformation exploding thanks to new tech - Fox News - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- The Candice Malcolm Show | The biggest fake news HOAXES of 2023 - True North - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Evaluating truthfulness of fake news through online searches increases chances of believing misinformation: Study - Phys.org - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Unsure if news is true? You may be more likely to believe misinformation - The Jerusalem Post - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Lions on the loose in Indianapolis? Its not true, its fake news, zoo officials say - FOX 59 Indianapolis - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- No, Adele was not holding a Palestinian flag at one of her recent concerts - Truth or Fake - FRANCE 24 English - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- X to be investigated for allegedly breaking EU laws on hate speech and fake news - The Guardian - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- AI-generated weapons of mass misinformation have arrived - MSNBC - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Deepfakes are everywhere! Who is keeping the tab on fake news? - afaqs! - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Analysts hit out at the use of smear tactics and fake news by Western nations - China Daily - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Please respect my history and respect my boys - Jose Mourinho says his alleged all-time XI including Cristiano ... - Sportskeeda - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Call to secure prompt response to fake news ahead of elections in Belarus - Belarus News (BelTA) - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- As fake nudes become latest AI headache, experts call for regulation and awareness - The Indian Express - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Newsable: Fact-checking fake news can make you more likely to believe it - Stuff.co.nz - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Alleged fake nurse charged with forgery and impersonation on Vancouver Island - CBC.ca - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Lions on the loose in United States? - ARY NEWS - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Fake news, real victims: The tragedy of the Middle East bombings - The Hill - October 22nd, 2023 [October 22nd, 2023]
- New YouTube Recommendation Feature After Government Notice On Fake News - NDTV - October 22nd, 2023 [October 22nd, 2023]
- Fake news exposed: Injured Gaza baby photo proven to be AI-generated - The Jerusalem Post - October 22nd, 2023 [October 22nd, 2023]
- Social media trolling and spread of fake news are threat to Irish ... - The Irish Times - October 22nd, 2023 [October 22nd, 2023]
- FG won't trample on rights of citizens in fight against fake news, says ... - TheCable - October 22nd, 2023 [October 22nd, 2023]
- Russian Propagandists Are Dancing on the Bones of Israel-Hamas ... - The Moscow Times - October 22nd, 2023 [October 22nd, 2023]
- Health Ministry rebukes Elon Musk for 'fake news' about COVID-19 - The Times of Israel - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Elon Musk Is Flirting With a Fake AOC Twitter Account - The New Republic - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Fake news is only getting worse | News | mymcr.net - Monroe County Reporter - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Identifying fake news requires actively open-minded thinking, new ... - Concordia University News - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Binance's Changpeng Zhao complains of fake news and hints at ... - CoinGeek - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- DISINFORMATION, MISINFORMATION AND FAKE NEWS - The Star Online - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Will Brazil's 'Fake News Bill' regulate disinformation or stifle free ... - The World - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Sedition Not Ruled Out For Spreading Fake News, Misinformation On Manipur - NDTV - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Journalists at the front lines battling fake news - The Star Online - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- 'Fake news' -- Dele Alake debunks reports of appointment as ... - TheCable - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- FAKE NEWS ALERT: We are not recruiting, PenCom tells jobseekers - TheCable - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- May 29: DSS warns against fake news, says there are plans to ... - TheCable - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Study reveals key reason why fake news spreads on social media - April 6th, 2023 [April 6th, 2023]
- Rob Gronkowski shuts down rumors of Bill Belichick shopping Mac Jones: 'I think that was fake news' - Fox News - April 6th, 2023 [April 6th, 2023]
- Fake cop arrested after attempting traffic stop of real cop - The Mercury News - April 6th, 2023 [April 6th, 2023]
- False information is being spread: Officials on fake news over attack on Bihari migrant workers in Tamil Nadu - India Today - March 4th, 2023 [March 4th, 2023]
- These Were the 10 Most-Viewed Fake News Stories on Facebook in 2019 - February 20th, 2023 [February 20th, 2023]
- TOTALLY NOT FAKE NEWS: The Texans Off-Season Off to a Fast and Furious Start... - Battle Red Blog - February 2nd, 2023 [February 2nd, 2023]
- What would happen if a space rock crashed into your town? Find out with this simulator - CW39 Houston - January 23rd, 2023 [January 23rd, 2023]
- Did Fake News On Facebook Help Elect Trump? Here's What We Know - NPR.org - January 10th, 2023 [January 10th, 2023]
- Working to Stop Misinformation and False News - Facebook - January 10th, 2023 [January 10th, 2023]
- FAKE NEWS FAILING: The Washington Post Has Lost 500K Subscribers Since ... - January 10th, 2023 [January 10th, 2023]
- Types of fake news: Know the difference between misinformation and disinformation - News9 LIVE - January 8th, 2023 [January 8th, 2023]
- Fact Check: WEF's Statement To Bathe Once A Week To Combat Climate Change. Is It True? - Outlook India - January 8th, 2023 [January 8th, 2023]
- How fake news gets into our minds, and what you can do to resist it - December 25th, 2022 [December 25th, 2022]
- TOTALLY NOT FAKE NEWS: No Time to Celebrate for the TexansThey Got Football To Play - Battle Red Blog - December 25th, 2022 [December 25th, 2022]
- FAKE NEWS | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- Fake news. It's complicated. - First Draft - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- Fake news: What is it? And how to spot it - CBBC Newsround - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- Kangana Ranaut reacts to reports about Emergency allowed to be shot in Parliament: Its fake news - Bollywood Hungama - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- Due diligence was required, or a Google search: The Quint CEO pulls up Ravish Kumar on his claims of Adani owning the organisation - OpIndia - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- Fake news: How to spot misinformation : Life Kit : NPR - December 2nd, 2022 [December 2nd, 2022]
- How the US Government Used Propaganda to Sell Americans on ... - HISTORY - December 2nd, 2022 [December 2nd, 2022]
- TMCs Saket Gokhale spreads fake report claiming 30 crore was spent on PMs Morbi visit citing RTI response that does not exist - OpIndia - December 2nd, 2022 [December 2nd, 2022]
- Fighting Misinformation, Meet Andy Norman, Who is Empowering People to Combat Fake News - News18 - December 2nd, 2022 [December 2nd, 2022]
- Fake News: Why People Believe, How It Spreads, and What You Can Do ... - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- TOTALLY NOT FAKE NEWS: The Texans Look to Bounce Back - Battle Red Blog - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Report of armed robbery of Harrison Twp. bar appears to be a case of fake news, Sheriff Streck says - WHIO - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- On the Philippines fake news problem - BusinessWorld Online - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Get Rs 5000 if received Covid shots - This claim is FAKE #FactChecked - OTV News - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Centre warns against propagating hate, spreading fake news on social media - Times Now - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Congress Initiates Action Against BJP's Priti Gandhi, 4 Others Over 'Fake News' - The Quint - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Brazil Has Never Been So Prepared to Fight Fake News - Americas Quarterly - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- Totally Not Fake News: The Texans And The Fallout From History - Battle Red Blog - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- OVP studying whether to file complaints vs. those spreading fake news regarding Duterte - GMA News Online - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- Study Says Many Teens Cant Tell The Difference Between Real And Fake News - HuffPost - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- TikTok is infested with fake news, according to this study - Gearrice - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- Heavy losses for Ukraine, the feats of Russian soldiers, and fake news from Kyiv - Meduza - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- NASCAR & NBA Arent the Sports Responsible for Michael Jordan & Denny Hamlins $150 Million Fake News Collaboration - EssentiallySports - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- A short history of fake history: Why fighting for the truth is critical - Salon - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- What is fake news? - Definition from WhatIs.com - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Fake News is All Around Us - Seed World - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Totally Not Fake News: For the Texans, the End of the Beginning? - Battle Red Blog - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Fake news and the real thing - Buenos Aires Times - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- The death of Queen Elizabeth II is giving rise to scams and fake news - Komando - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Data: Cases booked for 'Circulation of Fake News' down 42% in 2021; Pendency increases while Conviction rate comes down - Factly - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]