Political Rumors: Why We Accept Misinformation and How to Fight It by Adam J. Berinsky

Author:Adam J. Berinsky [Berinsky, Adam J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, Political Process, General, Social Science, Conspiracy Theories, Political Ideologies, Democracy, History & Theory, American Government
ISBN: 9780691247571
Google: ymquEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2023-08-14T23:00:00+00:00

Conclusion

Although elite misinformation has long been a feature of American political life, Donald Trump has taken the dissemination of such information to new heights. Whether espousing conspiracy theories about his predecessor’s place of birth or casting doubt on election results, Trump repeatedly and persistently pushed the boundaries of acceptable behavior for national leaders—and did so with seemingly few consequences for his own political fortunes. The experiments presented in this chapter provide some insight into this phenomenon. Both the supporters and opponents of Trump shared one important characteristic: people were more likely to believe statements made by politicians they supported and less likely to believe statements by politicians they opposed—regardless of whether these statements were true or false. Further, while efforts to correct elite misinformation effectively reduced political misperceptions, they seemed to have little impact on support for politicians who make false claims.

These findings are especially concerning for democracy, because they do not appear unique to Donald Trump. Instead, Study 3 shows that both left- and right-wing individuals seem equally susceptible to misinformation, albeit similarly responsive to fact-checking messages. Though Trump’s presidency has ended (for now), the existence of relatively weak association between factual beliefs and political evaluations implies that politicians who disseminate misinformation will continue to emerge and are likely to find success when they do. Although our third experiment—and our Australian replication—suggests some limits to the amount of misinformation politicians can spread without compromising their reputations, it is clear that the use of misinformation is not inherently disqualifying for either Democrats or Republicans. However, the lack of partisan asymmetries within a controlled survey environment does not mean that misinformation is comparable across Democratic and Republican circles in the real world. In the next chapter, I explore the consequences of differences in the structure of partisan information environments for individuals’ endorsement of misinformation and responses to corrections.

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