Attitudes, cognitive biases and feelings in the face of misinformation through social media

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study in depth the user’s behavior regarding fake news. A survey was conducted (n=1350), among individuals between 18 and 80 years old, on attitudes, feelings and cognitive biases operating in disinformation processes. Among the conclusions, it should be noted that 89.2% believe they receive fake news, and among these, 25.9% weekly; 54% of them declare receiving them through social media, mainly Facebook. 41.4% of those who have ever shared fake news declared to have done so because they thought it was true, and 23% because they agreed with the content. 10.1% did it because they talked bad about a political party contrary to theirs. “Worry” is the feeling that emerges in 66.8% of those surveyed, followed by “anger” in 61%. 38.1% of those surveyed confess that fake news reinforces what they think. Research demonstrates the prevalence of cognitive biases such as the confirmation and conformity biases as well as the two-step flow theory in the process by which the user gives credibility to the content they receive and proceeds to distribute it.