“This volume provides a great entry point into the vast and growing psycho- logical literature on one of the defining problems of the early 21st century – fake news and its dissemination. The chapters by leading scientists first focus on how (false) information spreads online and then examine the cognitive processes involved in accepting and sharing (false) information. The volume concludes by reviewing some of the available countermeasures. Anyone new to this area will find much here to satisfy their curiosity.” – Stephan Lewandowsky , Cognitive Science, University of Bristol, UK “Fake news is a serious problem for politics, for science, for journalism, for con- sumers, and, really, for all of us. We now live in a world where fact and fiction are intentionally blurred by people who hope to deceive us. In this tremendous collection, four scientists have gathered together some of the finest minds to help us understand the problem, and to guide our thinking about what can be done about it. The Psychology of Fake News is an important and inspirational contribu- tion to one of society’s most vexing problem.” – Elizabeth F Loftus , Distinguished Professor, University of California, Irvine, USA “This is an interesting, innovative and important book on a very significant social issue. Fake news has been the focus of intense public debate in recent years, but a proper scientific analysis of this phenomenon has been sorely lacking. Con- tributors to this excellent volume are world-class researchers who offer a detailed analysis of the psychological processes involved in the production, dissemina- tion, interpretation, sharing, and acceptance of fake news. This book should be essential reading to anyone interested in public affairs, and especially to students, researchers, applied professionals in the social sciences.” – Joseph P Forgas , Scientia Professor, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FAKE NEWS This volume examines the phenomenon of fake news by bringing together leading experts from different fields within psychology and related areas, and explores what has become a prominent feature of public discourse since the first Brexit referendum and the 2016 US election campaign. Dealing with misinformation is important in many areas of daily life, including politics, the marketplace, health communication, journalism, education, and science. In a general climate where facts and misinformation blur, and are intentionally blurred, this book asks what determines whether people accept and share (mis)information, and what can be done to counter misinformation? All three of these aspects need to be understood in the context of online social networks, which have fundamentally changed the way information is produced, consumed, and transmitted. The contributions within this volume summarize the most up-to-date empirical findings, theories, and applications and discuss cutting-edge ideas and future directions of interventions to counter fake news. Also providing guidance on how to handle misinformation in an age of “alternative facts”, this is a fascinating and vital reading for students and academics in psychology, communication, and political science and for professionals including policy makers and journalists. Rainer Greifeneder is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Basel, Switzerland. His research focuses on the impact of feelings on judgment, individuals’ experiences and perceptions of being socially excluded, and the way individuals construe truth. Mariela E. Jaffé is Postdoctoral Researcher in Social Psychology at the University of Basel, Switzerland. Her research interests focus on the construal of truth, individuals’ preferences regarding diversity, and the use of decision-making aids. Eryn J. Newman is Lecturer at the Australian National University. Her research focuses on how people come to believe and remember things are true and how tangential information or “pseudo-evidence” can bias people’s assessments of information they encounter. Norbert Schwarz is Provost Professor of Psychology and Marketing and Co-director of the Mind & Society Center at the University of Southern California. His research addresses the context sensitive and embodied nature of judgment and decision making and its implications for public opinion, consumer behavior, and social science research. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FAKE NEWS Accepting, Sharing, and Correcting Misinformation Edited by Rainer Greifeneder, Mariela E. Jaffé, Eryn J. Newman, and Norbert Schwarz First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 selection and editorial matter, Rainer Greifeneder, Mariela E. Jaffé, Eryn J. Newman, and Norbert Schwarz; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Rainer Greifeneder, Mariela E. Jaffé, Eryn J. Newman, and Norbert Schwarz to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis. com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-27181-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-27183-1 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-29537-9 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC Published with the generous support of the Swiss National Science Foundation (10.13039/501100001711), Grant #10BP12_193570. CONTENTS List of contributors ix Acknowledgements xi 1 What is new and true about fake news? 1 Rainer Greifeneder, Mariela E. Jaffé, Eryn J. Newman, and Norbert Schwarz PART I The journey and aftermath of (false) information in networks 9 2 How bad is the fake news problem? The role of baseline information in public perceptions 11 Benjamin A. Lyons, Vittorio Merola, and Jason Reifler 3 Truth and the dynamics of news diffusion on Twitter 27 Robert Ackland and Karl Gwynn 4 Retracted articles – the scientific version of fake news 47 Judit Bar-Ilan and Gali Halevi viii Contents PART II Cognitive processes in accepting, sharing, and correcting misinformation 71 5 When (fake) news feels true: Intuitions of truth and the acceptance and correction of misinformation 73 Norbert Schwarz and Madeline Jalbert 6 Truthiness: How non-probative photos shape belief 90 Eryn J. Newman and Lynn Zhang 7 Can that be true or is it just fake news? New perspectives on the negativity bias in judgments of truth 115 Mariela E. Jaffé and Rainer Greifeneder 8 False beliefs: Byproducts of an adaptive knowledge base? 131 Elizabeth J. Marsh and Matthew L. Stanley 9 Psychological inoculation against fake news 147 Sander van der Linden and Jon Roozenbeek PART III Motivational processes in accepting, sharing, and correcting misinformation 171 10 Your fake news, our facts: Identity-based motivation shapes what we believe, share, and accept 173 Daphna Oyserman and Andrew Dawson 11 Conspiracy beliefs: Knowledge, ego defense, and social integration in the processing of fake news 196 Dolores Albarracín 12 Fake news attributions as a source of nonspecific structure 220 Jordan R. Axt, Mark J. Landau, and Aaron C. Kay Index 235 CONTRIBUTORS Robert Ackland Australian National University, Australia Dolores Albarracín University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA Jordan R. Axt McGill University, Canada Judit Bar-Ilan Bar-Ilan University, Israel Andrew Dawson University of Southern California, USA Rainer Greifeneder University of Basel, Switzerland Karl Gwynn Australian National University, Australia Gali Halevi Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA Mariela E. Jaffé University of Basel, Switzerland x Contributors Madeline Jalbert University of Southern California, USA Aaron C. Kay Duke University, USA Mark J. Landau University of Kansas, USA Benjamin A. Lyons University of Utah, USA Elizabeth J. Marsh Duke University, USA Vittorio Merola Stony Brook University, USA Eryn J. Newman Australian National University, Australia Daphna Oyserman University of Southern California, USA Jason Reifler University of Exeter, UK Jon Roozenbeek University of Cambridge, UK Norbert Schwarz University of Southern California, USA Matthew L. Stanley Duke University, USA Sander van der Linden University of Cambridge, UK Lynn Zhang University of Southern California, USA ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Numerous people have helped to put together this volume. We are extremely grateful for their support. We thank all reviewers for taking part in the peer- review process and for providing editors and authors with tremendously useful feedback and suggestions. We thank Saskia Bollin for her invaluable assistance in all phases of the project. We thank all at Routledge who were part of the pro- cess, from the first proposal to the book’s publication, especially Eleanor Taylor. And we thank the Swiss National Science Foundation for its generous support (grant #IZSEZ0_180211 and grant # 10BP12_193570). 1 WHAT IS NEW AND TRUE1 ABOUT FAKE NEWS? Rainer Greifeneder, Mariela E. Jaffé,