The Psychology of Fake News

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Psychology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2022) | Viewed by 32357

Special Issue Editor

Psychology Department, California State University San Marcos, San Marcos, CA 92096, USA
Interests: memory distortion; misinformation; judgment and decision making; fake news; reasoning

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fake news, false or misleading stories in the guise of legitimate news, is perceived as a serious problem. Fake news misinforms people about important issues and may reduce trust in reliable news media. Despite recent advances in the understanding of factors related to fake news, there are several unanswered questions. This special issue aims to advance the understanding of the psychology of fake news, including social, cultural, personality, cognitive, developmental, and emotional factors related to belief in and sharing of fake news, the effects of exposure to fake news, the influence of contextual factors on susceptibility to fake news, effective ways to counter fake news, and the impacts of fact checks and warnings on belief in fake news. We welcome empirical and theoretical contributions that focus on these and other psychological aspects of fake news. 

Prof. Dr. Dustin P. Calvillo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fake news
  • misinformation
  • social media
  • judging truth
  • information sharing

Published Papers (5 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

15 pages, 1166 KiB  
Article
The Mediation Effects of Social Media Usage and Sharing Fake News about Companies
by Daniel-Rareș Obadă and Dan-Cristian Dabija
Behav. Sci. 2022, 12(10), 372; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bs12100372 - 30 Sep 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5017
Abstract
Trust in social media information is gaining in importance and relevance for both companies and individuals as nowadays contemporary society is confronted with a wave of fake news about daily life situations, brands, organizations, etc. As it becomes more difficult to accurately assess [...] Read more.
Trust in social media information is gaining in importance and relevance for both companies and individuals as nowadays contemporary society is confronted with a wave of fake news about daily life situations, brands, organizations, etc. As it becomes more difficult to accurately assess social media information and to determine its origin or source, as well as to be able to double-check information spread across different Social Networking Sites (SNS), businesses must understand how individuals’ perceived control, concentration, and time distortion enhances the social media usage, thus allowing them to correctly assess online information. Therefore, the scope of the paper is to assess, based on a conceptual model, the antecedents of trust in online information about companies by considering users’ perceived control, concentration, and time distortion, while browsing social media networks and sharing fake news about companies in SNS. With the help of an online survey, data was collected from social media users, later being analysed with SmartPLS. The findings suggest that social media usage and sharing of fake news mediate the relationship between users’ perceived control, concentration, and time distortion (i.e., flow characteristics) and trust in online information about companies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Psychology of Fake News)
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 2829 KiB  
Article
How Personal Values Count in Misleading News Sharing with Moral Content
by Francesca D’Errico, Giuseppe Corbelli, Concetta Papapicco and Marinella Paciello
Behav. Sci. 2022, 12(9), 302; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bs12090302 - 24 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2066
Abstract
The present study investigates the personal factors underlying online sharing of moral misleading news by observing the interaction between personal values, communication bias, credibility evaluations, and moral emotions. Specifically, we hypothesized that self-transcendence and conservation values may differently influence the sharing of misleading [...] Read more.
The present study investigates the personal factors underlying online sharing of moral misleading news by observing the interaction between personal values, communication bias, credibility evaluations, and moral emotions. Specifically, we hypothesized that self-transcendence and conservation values may differently influence the sharing of misleading news depending on which moral domain is activated and that these are more likely to be shared when moral emotions and perceived credibility increase. In a sample of 132 participants (65% female), we tested SEMs on misleading news regarding violations in five different moral domains. The results suggest that self-transcendence values hinder online sharing of misleading news, while conservation values promote it; moreover, news written with a less blatantly biased linguistic frame are consistently rated as more credible. Lastly, more credible and emotionally activating news is more likely to be shared online. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Psychology of Fake News)
Show Figures

Figure 1

46 pages, 19090 KiB  
Article
Americans’ Perspectives on Online Media Warning Labels
by Jeremy Straub and Matthew Spradling
Behav. Sci. 2022, 12(3), 59; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bs12030059 - 23 Feb 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3033
Abstract
Americans are pervasively exposed to social media, news, and online content. Some of this content is designed to be deliberately deceptive and manipulative. However, it is interspersed amongst other content from friends and family, advertising, and legitimate news. Filtering content violates key societal [...] Read more.
Americans are pervasively exposed to social media, news, and online content. Some of this content is designed to be deliberately deceptive and manipulative. However, it is interspersed amongst other content from friends and family, advertising, and legitimate news. Filtering content violates key societal values of freedom of expression and inquiry. Taking no action, though, leaves users at the mercy of individuals and groups who seek to use both single articles and complex patterns of content to manipulate how Americans consume, act, work, and even think. Warning labels, which do not block content but instead aid the user in making informed consumption decisions, have been proposed as a potential solution to this dilemma. Ideally, they would respect the autonomy of users to determine what media they consume while combating intentional deception and manipulation through its identification to the user. This paper considers the perception of Americans regarding the use of warning labels to alert users to potentially deceptive content. It presents the results of a population representative national study and analysis of perceptions in terms of key demographics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Psychology of Fake News)
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 565 KiB  
Article
Trust, Media Credibility, Social Ties, and the Intention to Share towards Information Verification in an Age of Fake News
by Przemysław Majerczak and Artur Strzelecki
Behav. Sci. 2022, 12(2), 51; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bs12020051 - 16 Feb 2022
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 13727
Abstract
Social media is now the primary form of communication between internet users and has soared in popularity, which has directly impacted the spread of the phenomenon of fake news. Fake news is not only a widespread phenomenon; it is also problematic and dangerous [...] Read more.
Social media is now the primary form of communication between internet users and has soared in popularity, which has directly impacted the spread of the phenomenon of fake news. Fake news is not only a widespread phenomenon; it is also problematic and dangerous for society. The aim of this study is to understand the phenomenon of fake news better. The study utilised a structural modelling equation in order to identify how Polish society perceives the problem of fake news and assess the extent to which it trusts content that is published on the internet. The key goal was to determine what factors have the most significant influence on the verification of information being viewed on the internet. By deploying the partial least squares method of validation, SmartPLS3 software was used to process the survey results. The strongest positive effect on information verification behaviour was found to be fake news awareness, which was followed by the intention to share information. The research did not consider any clear connections that may exist between the nature of fake news and its recipient; however, much of the fake news that appears on the internet is political in nature. The study can be used by news reporting companies and provides preliminary information for developers responsible for running social media sites as well as users who want to combat and limit the spread of fake news online. This study expands on the available literature related to fake news by identifying the effects on information verification behaviour of fake news awareness and the intention to share data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Psychology of Fake News)
Show Figures

Figure 1

8 pages, 1167 KiB  
Article
Individual Differences in Belief in Fake News about Election Fraud after the 2020 U.S. Election
by Dustin P. Calvillo, Abraham M. Rutchick and Ryan J. B. Garcia
Behav. Sci. 2021, 11(12), 175; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bs11120175 - 10 Dec 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 6517
Abstract
Fake news is a serious problem because it misinforms people about important issues. The present study examined belief in false headlines about election fraud after the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Belief in election fraud had dangerous consequences, including the deadly insurrection at the [...] Read more.
Fake news is a serious problem because it misinforms people about important issues. The present study examined belief in false headlines about election fraud after the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Belief in election fraud had dangerous consequences, including the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January 2021. In the present study, participants rated the truthfulness of true and false headlines about the election, and then completed individual difference measures eight days after the election. Participants with more conservative ideology, greater presidential approval of the outgoing president, greater endorsement of general conspiracy narratives and poorer cognitive reflection demonstrated greater belief in false headlines about election fraud. Additionally, consuming more politically conservative election news was associated with greater belief in false headlines. Identifying the factors related to susceptibility to false claims of election fraud offers a path toward countering the influence of these claims by tailoring interventions aimed at decreasing belief in misinformation and decreasing conspiracy beliefs to those most susceptible. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Psychology of Fake News)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop