<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Despite a rapid increase in research on the underpinnings of misinformation susceptibility, scholars still disagree about the relative impacts of social context and individual cognitive factors. We argue that cognitive reflection and identity-based network homogeneity may have unique influences on different types of misinformation. Specifically, identity-based network homogeneity predicts bias that is related to any type of identity-based information (i.e., political rumors), and cognitive reflection is more tailored toward truth discernment (i.e., fake news headlines). We conducted our study using an online sample (N = 214) split evenly between Democrats and Republicans and collected data on personal network composition, cognitive reflection, as well as susceptibility, sentiments, and sharing behavior in relation to political rumors and misinformation, respectively. Results demonstrate that where network homogeneity predicts belief and sharing in both political rumors and fake news headlines, cognitive reflection only predicts belief and sharing of fake news headlines. Social vs. cognitive factors for predicting different types of misinformation are discussed.</p>
</abstract>

Despite a rapid increase in research on the underpinnings of misinformation susceptibility, scholars still disagree about the relative impacts of social context and individual cognitive factors. We argue that cognitive reflection and identity-based network homogeneity may have unique influences on different types of misinformation. Specifically, identity-based network homogeneity predicts bias that is related to any type of identity-based information (i.e., political rumors), and cognitive reflection is more tailored toward truth discernment (i.e., fake news headlines). We conducted our study using an online sample (N = 214) split evenly between Democrats and Republicans and collected data on personal network composition, cognitive reflection, as well as susceptibility, sentiments, and sharing behavior in relation to political rumors and misinformation, respectively. Results demonstrate that where network homogeneity predicts belief and sharing in both political rumors and fake news headlines, cognitive reflection only predicts belief and sharing of fake news headlines. Social vs. cognitive factors for predicting different types of misinformation are discussed.

Personal Network Composition and Cognitive Reflection Predict Susceptibility to Different Types of Misinformation

Department of Computer Science & Engineering

Connections

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Despite a rapid increase in research on the underpinnings of misinformation susceptibility, scholars still disagree about the relative impacts of social...

Personal Network Composition and Cognitive Reflection Predict Susceptibility to Different Types of Misinformation

Article Category: Article

Published Online: Jun 28, 2024

Page range: -

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/connections-2019.044

Keywords
ego networks, politics, misinformation, identity, homogeneity, cognitive reflection

© 2024 Matthew Facciani et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Personal Network Composition and Cognitive Reflection Predict Susceptibility to Different Types of Misinformation

Article Category: Article

Published Online: Jun 28, 2024

Page range: -

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/connections-2019.044

Keywordsego networks, politics, misinformation, identity, homogeneity, cognitive reflection

© 2024 Matthew Facciani et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
ego networks, politics, misinformation, identity, homogeneity, cognitive reflection