cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10870509
Northeastern researchers say that when confronted with “fake news,” Republicans and younger people are more likely to say they believe the false headlines than Democrats and older people.
But across the board, participants who were incorrect about news headlines being true or false had an inkling they were wrong, lead author and Northeastern professor Briony-Swire Thompson says.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications Psychology and goes against the idea that individuals who endorse misinformation strongly believe it to be true, she says.
“When people take false information to be true, they are aware that they could well be wrong,” says Swire-Thompson, a political science and psychology professor who directs the Psychology of Misinformation Lab and faculty at the Network Science Institute.
“Maybe Bob Schmob didn’t bomb a car full of children, but he would have!”
I feel like this is the exact process my problematic relatives use.
“Maybe ‘antifa’ didn’t beat up that store owner for being Republican, but they would if they had the chance. You know how those people are!”
I swear a third of people I knew on Facebook back when I used it were the 10th juror in 12 Angry Men.