RAPID: Rumors, Truths, and Reality: A Study of Political Misinformation

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Rumors and innuendo have long influenced the conduct of politics. With the rise of the 24-hour news cycle and the rapid communication of specialized information via the internet, however, the potential for the spread of false information through rumors is perhaps greater than at any time in history. This project provides an experimental investigation of the effectiveness of different strategies to counter political rumors. Rumors are a special kind of misinformation - strongly held beliefs in information that is factually incorrect. By examining this fundamental problem of democratic citizenship, namely the enduring obstacle of a misinformed citizenry, this project will advance the study of mass political behavior in important ways. This project draws upon work in social psychology which finds that the difficulty with which information is processed affect individuals' assessment of its accuracy. This research shows that people use their metacognitive experience - how easy it is to recall or process new information - as a signal concerning the veracity of that information. The more particular statements are repeated, the more "fluid" they become, and - as a result - the more likely people are to believe they are true. Thus, confronting citizens with facts will not necessarily correct publicly held misperceptions. Countering the rumors, after all, involves repeating the initial rumor, thereby increasing its fluency. The intellectual merit of this proposal is testing theoretically based strategies to counteract political rumors. The study explores the effectiveness of different presentational strategies in correcting popularly held political faslehoods. The broader impacts of this proposal are two fold. First, it will help to focus scholars attention on political rumors. Little scholarly work has been done in this area by political scientists. Second, it may provide policymakers with important tools to use to counteract political rumors.