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Cate Douglass; [email protected]
WASHINGTON (July 25, 2024) – In a new study published today in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, a team of researchers found that people are more likely to share misinformation if it is easy to understand and conveys a clear, simple message -- essentially, the gist of the information. However, the team also found that accurate information, if conveyed similarly in a clear, simple, yet insightful, gist-based format, can effectively deter people from sharing misinformation. The key is in the gist-based format -- neither too simple (e.g. "This is false") nor too detailed (e.g., a decontextualized list of facts). According to the researchers, the findings could help public health agencies and other expert communities respond more effectively to false information online.
“These findings matter because they highlight practical ways to combat misinformation online. By focusing on simple, yet insightful, explanations that align with people's values, we can more effectively reduce the spread of false information,” David Broniatowski, lead study author and an associate professor of engineering management and systems engineering at the George Washington University, says. “This approach can improve public understanding and trust in accurate information across any number of topics.”
The research team applied a psychological theory, called Fuzzy-Trace Theory, to understand the sharing of misinformation online. The theory posits that people rely on simple, insightful, bottom-line meanings, or gists, rather than detailed, verbatim information when making decisions. The researchers conducted two correlational studies and two experiments. The correlational studies examined public data sets on Facebook to understand why certain false messages were shared, and the two controlled experiments tested the effectiveness of gist-based interventions in reducing the sharing and/or endorsement of misinformation.
The researchers found that people are more likely to share misinformation if it is easy to understand and conveys simple, yet insightful, message – essentially, if the message explains the gist of the information. The research team says this happens because people prefer straightforward and concise information that connects well with their values and beliefs.
The study finds this same methodology is effective in responding to misinformation. Commentary that conveys a simple message explaining why misinformation is false is more likely to deter someone from sharing it. Comparatively, messages that are too simple (i.e. “This is false”) or messages that are too detailed (e.g., a list of facts that lead people to “draw their own conclusions”) are less likely to prevent someone from sharing misinformation.
The researchers say this is one of the first studies to systematically test the effectiveness of gist-based interventions in reducing the sharing and endorsement of misinformation.
The authors suggest these findings can be applicable for scientific communicators and experts, who can help translate why misinformation is false in a more effective way.
The paper, “The Role of Mental Representation in Sharing Misinformation Online,” was published in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. Ethan Porter and Pedram Hosseini of GW and Thomas Wood of Ohio State University contributed to this research. The paper was supported by the Social Science Research Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the National Institute for Standards and Technology, the National Science Foundation, and the NIST-NSF Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law and Society.
-GW-
