Beyond Truth
Misinformation, conspiracy theories, and other types of misleading information negatively affect individuals and threaten society at large. We need to comprehensively understand the psychological influence of such information to tackle its negative consequences. Most research on misleading information has so far focused on whether people judge this information as true or false (via believing processes). However, the psychological influence of misleading information also depends on whether such information and related issues are deemed good or bad (via liking processes), which has been largely ignored to date.
This dissertation shows that examining both believing and liking processes can better explain the psychological influence of misleading information and how it can be tackled than either perspective alone. For example, whether a misleading news headline shapes people’s views does not only depend on whether it is believed to be true or false, but also whether its content or source are deemed good or bad. Similarly, whether a conspiracy theory influences people’s behaviour does not only depend on their factual belief in the conspiracy theory, but also their opinions about the topic. The combination of believing and liking processes also helps explain how we react to other people spreading misleading information in interpersonal interactions, and how to curb the influence and spread of misleading information. Combining these perspectives, this dissertation explains the psychological influence of various types of misleading information (conspiracy theories, fake news, deceptive advertising) about various topics (vaccination, climate change, politics) and what can be done about it.