CAREER: Information Misperceptions in the Internet Era

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

Scholars have observed that online news and political talk have the potential to promote belief in false or misleading factual claims, frequently attributing this to distinctive characteristics of the Internet such as the absence of gatekeepers, the freedom to screen out disagreeable evidence, and personalization systems that shield news consumers from uncomfortable truths. However, these mechanisms are largely speculative, and do not align well with existing data. This project moves toward a theoretically grounded and empirically tested understanding of political misperceptions in the Internet era. Hypotheses focus both on broad effects associated with use of online news media, and on the mechanisms through which these effects occur. Specifically, a series of media-effects hypotheses address the prevalence and consequences (1) of partisan bias in media exposure decisions, (2) of the use of social media as a source of political news, and (3) of automated (and often invisible) personalization technologies that shape what online news consumers see. A second more nuanced set of predictions concerns how these technologies could lead individuals to be more likely to accept as true inaccurate political information. These hypotheses link the attributes of the technologies in question with established theoretical work on processing fluency, affect, and biased assimilation. To test the hypotheses, the study will pair multi-wave surveys of representative samples of Americans with a series of controlled experiments designed to evaluate the specific mechanisms theorized. A three-wave survey will be conducted in year one, and a two-wave survey in year five, corresponding with U.S. Presidential elections. Measuring respondents' use of various online political news sources and services in early waves, and assessing respondents' store of political knowledge and misperceptions in later waves will provide clear evidence concerning the consequences of using these Internet technologies. The first survey will also include an embedded experiment in order to test the influence of processing fluency in the field. A series of interrelated experiments will be conducted in the intervening years. Year two will focus on testing the influence of metacognitive experiences, such as processing fluency, on the acceptance of false information and factual corrections. In year three the emphasis will be on affect, testing the influence of emotional responses to political claims on individuals' assessments. Year four experiments will focus on biased assimilation as it informs credibility effects, and on the relative importance of institutional trust and individual judgment on participants' beliefs. The datasets will be shared with students and other scholars, further enhancing the impact of the research endeavor. A new undergraduate course, intended to help students become more informed consumers of political information, will be based on the theoretical and empirical work coming out of this research. Public outreach, communicating key lessons concerning the sources and remedies of political misperceptions to journalists and the broader public, as well as publications in scientific venues, will raise awareness of effective strategies for assessing political information.