Ep 29: Why do people share false information — and what can we do about it?
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Jan 26, 2022
20:45
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insights INSIGHT
Difference Between Misinformation And Disinformation
People sharing false information fall into two categories: disinformation (deliberate lies) and misinformation (shared believing it's true).
Tom Buchanan prefers the umbrella term false information and focuses on sharers' motivations and whether they believed the content when sharing.
insights INSIGHT
Powerlessness Links To Conspiracy Belief
Belief in false material often links to feelings of powerlessness and a tendency to accept multiple related conspiracies.
Tom Buchanan notes people who believe one conspiracy tend to believe others, suggesting underlying psychological factors.
insights INSIGHT
Personality Plays A Small Role In Sharing False Claims
Personality traits show inconsistent but present links to sharing false information, with lower agreeableness and conscientiousness most consistently implicated.
Buchanan suggests these traits interact with maladaptive tendencies that favour heuristics over careful reasoning.
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Why do people share false information? In this episode, our presenters Ginny Smith and Jon Sutton explore the psychology of misinformation. They hear about the factors that make people more or less likely to share misinformation, discuss strategies to correct false information, and learn how to talk to someone who is promoting conspiracy theories.
Our guests, in order of appearance, are Tom Buchanan, Professor of Psychology at the University of Westminster, and Briony Swire-Thompson, senior research scientist at Northeastern University's Network Science Institute.
Episode credits: Presented and produced by Ginny Smith, with additional reporting by Jon Sutton. Script edits by Matthew Warren. Mixing and editing by Jeff Knowler. PsychCrunch theme music by Catherine Loveday and Jeff Knowler. Art work by Tim Grimshaw.
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