Laboratory for Social and Cognitive Informatics, National Research University Higher School of Economics, St. Petersburg, Russia.
PLoS One. 2021 Jun 24;16(6):e0253717. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253717. eCollection 2021.
Proliferation of misinformation in digital news environments can harm society in a number of ways, but its dangers are most acute when citizens believe that false news is factually accurate. A recent wave of empirical research focuses on factors that explain why people fall for the so-called fake news. In this scoping review, we summarize the results of experimental studies that test different predictors of individuals' belief in misinformation.
The review is based on a synthetic analysis of 26 scholarly articles. The authors developed and applied a search protocol to two academic databases, Scopus and Web of Science. The sample included experimental studies that test factors influencing users' ability to recognize fake news, their likelihood to trust it or intention to engage with such content. Relying on scoping review methodology, the authors then collated and summarized the available evidence.
The study identifies three broad groups of factors contributing to individuals' belief in fake news. Firstly, message characteristics-such as belief consistency and presentation cues-can drive people's belief in misinformation. Secondly, susceptibility to fake news can be determined by individual factors including people's cognitive styles, predispositions, and differences in news and information literacy. Finally, accuracy-promoting interventions such as warnings or nudges priming individuals to think about information veracity can impact judgements about fake news credibility. Evidence suggests that inoculation-type interventions can be both scalable and effective. We note that study results could be partly driven by design choices such as selection of stimuli and outcome measurement.
We call for expanding the scope and diversifying designs of empirical investigations of people's susceptibility to false information online. We recommend examining digital platforms beyond Facebook, using more diverse formats of stimulus material and adding a comparative angle to fake news research.
虚假信息在数字新闻环境中的传播会以多种方式危害社会，但当公民认为假新闻在事实上是准确的时，其危险最为严重。最近一波实证研究关注的是解释人们为何容易相信所谓的假新闻的因素。在本次范围综述中，我们总结了测试个人对错误信息的信任度的不同预测因素的实验研究结果。
该综述基于对 26 篇学术文章的综合分析。作者制定并应用了一种搜索协议，以两个学术数据库 Scopus 和 Web of Science。该样本包括实验研究，这些研究测试了影响用户识别假新闻能力、信任其可能性或与此类内容互动意图的因素。然后，作者依赖范围综述方法，对现有证据进行整理和总结。
研究确定了导致个人相信假新闻的三个广泛因素。首先，信息特征——如信仰一致性和呈现线索——可以促使人们相信错误信息。其次，个体因素如认知风格、倾向和新闻及信息素养的差异，会导致对假新闻的易感性。最后，促进准确性的干预措施，如警告或提示，促使个人思考信息真实性，可以影响对假新闻可信度的判断。有证据表明，免疫接种类型的干预措施既具有可扩展性又有效。我们注意到，研究结果可能部分受到设计选择的驱动，例如刺激材料的选择和结果测量。
我们呼吁扩大对人们在线易受虚假信息影响的实证研究的范围和设计多样化。我们建议检查除 Facebook 之外的数字平台，使用更多格式的刺激材料，并将比较视角纳入假新闻研究。
