Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, S. A. R., China.
Faculty of Human Sciences, Kanagawa University, Kanagawa, Japan.
PLoS One. 2021 Sep 22;16(9):e0256575. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256575. eCollection 2021.
With increasing concern over online misinformation in perspective, this study experimentally examined the cognitive as well as the affective consequences of online search. Results of the two experiments using widely shared, prejudiced misinformation about an ethnic minority in Japan indicated that (a) online search reduces on average the likelihood of believing the misinformation, (b) the magnitude of the effect is larger among those who are predisposed to believe the misinformation, (c) cognitive correction is observed whether searchers are motivated to achieve a directional goal or an accuracy goal, and (d) online search deteriorates affective feeling toward the target groups of the misinformation. Theoretical implications are discussed in relation to the robustness of confirmation bias in online search and the "belief echo" in which exposure to negative misinformation continues to shape attitudes even after the misinformation has been effectively discredited.
随着人们对网络错误信息的关注度不断提高，本研究通过实验考察了网络搜索带来的认知和情感后果。使用在日本广为传播的、带有偏见的少数民族错误信息进行的两项实验结果表明：（a）网络搜索平均会降低人们对错误信息的信任度；（b）对于那些更容易相信错误信息的人来说，这种影响的幅度更大；（c）无论搜索者的动机是追求定向目标还是准确目标，都能观察到认知纠正；（d）网络搜索会降低对错误信息所涉及目标群体的情感感受。本文还讨论了这些结果对网络搜索中确认偏见的稳健性以及“信念回音”的理论意义，即即使错误信息已经被有效辟谣，接触负面错误信息仍会继续影响态度。
