Social Psychology and Fake News Essay

Social Psychology and Fake News Fake news can be defined as any type of false or misleading information that is deliberately spread. Today, fake news is majorly supported by the ease of communication we experience through social media websites or online news. One type of fake news could be news built upon complete lies, like death hoaxes. One reason contributing why someone might feel compelled to create this extreme of a hoax could be out of boredom, for attention, or for money if they were able to sell their story for publicity. Because the spread of this fake news has no real detriment to themselves, it seems like a harmless and rather comical activity. Other types of fake news could be news that is partially false or misleading such as biased propaganda or the misuse of data. Whereas death hoaxes seem to pose no outstanding benefits for the people spreading them, this type of fake news can be spread with a favorable outcome in mind such as political or monetary gains. Once fake news is created it’s rather difficult to try and avoid it, especially when one is submerged in the most popular social media platforms. According to AdWeek, there are 320 million people using twitter and 1.59 billion participants of facebook (AdWeek, 2016). Additionally, on Twitter’s website, their mission statement reads, “To give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers” (Twitter, 2017). This statement, and the vast amount of users on these social media platforms, reinforces the idea of how truly simply it is to share fake news to the world in a matter of seconds. That being said, one possible motivation for someone to spread news could be unknowing that the news is even false. With so many tweets or facebook posts circulating, it’s difficult to discern which statements are false and which ones come from reliable sources. This may lead to people sharing posts that they find appealing but are unaware of the fact that they’re false. One social psychology topic that also explains a possible motivation for people to spread fake news it the idea of conformity, specifically normative influence. As David Myers explains, conformity is an attitude or behavior change in compliance with those around you. Additionally, normative influence is conformity based on a person’s will to be accepted by others (Myers & Twenge, 2015). These concepts relate to the spreading of fake news as people may feel the need to share or retweet a post simply because others did. Whether you fully believe the post or not, due to it’s popularity, you to share the information to fit the social norm. In a study done on social conformity and norm formation by Muzafer Sherif, participants were asked to estimate the distance a small light moved while sitting alone in a dark room. After their guesses were recorded, the participants were asked to come back the next day and guess again, this time with two other participants in the room. The results of this study showed that participants changed their original answer based to fit a new norm created by the people around them (Sherif, 1935). This study shows importance as it relays the power of social influence to cause conformity within a group of people. This study can further be applied to the situation of spreading fake news as the social norm can be identified as the sharing the information. As people begin to recognize this norm and the immense number of viewers that shared the information, they choose to do the same to gain acceptance and fulfil the norm expectations. Just as easy as it is for people to spread fake news, this information has also proved itself susceptible to popular belief. One social psychology topic that shows relevance to the belief in fake news is the idea of belief perseverance. Belief perseverance is persistence of one’s initial conceptions and the acceptance of any information that might support this belief, while being less open to ideas that may challenge the belief (Myers & Twenge, 2015). This concept is significant in explaining why people might tend to belief fake news if the news is some that fits their pre existing opinions or beliefs. For example, if a person reads a fake news article that supports their political party, their already persisting opinions in support for this news makes them more susceptible or willing to believe it. In a study conducted by Craig Anderson, Mark Lepper, and Lee Ross, participants were asked whether individuals who take risks make good or bad firefighters and to make a case for one side. After generating reasons supporting their sides, it was found that any information that discredited their point was often rejected while people stuck to their initial arguments (Anderson, Lepper & Ross, 1980). This experiment is significant as it demonstrates the tendency for people to be closed off towards incoming information that challenges their beliefs, while being more open to favorable points. This concept of belief perseverance therefore can be related back to the tendency for people to believe fake news if it supports a preexisting belief. People accept information that they want to hear, thus allowing for greater susceptibility for believing fake news. Another social psychology concept that can be used to understand why people believe fake news is in-group bias. When it comes to social media or news sites, people may tend to surround themselves within a certain set of people that have similar interests or opinions, or what one would call their in-group. That being said, in-group bias describes the tendency for people to favor these in-groups, possibly in the form of trust (Myers & Twenge, 2015). Therefore, hearing certain information from our in-group over social media could lead to people easily believing this information as they favor and trust these people that are feeding them the information. In an experiment conducted by Henri Tajfel and Michael Billig, British teenagers evaluating art were told that there was a group of other teens who favored the work of another artist, and some who favored the work of the same artist as them. After creating this dichotomy, the teens were then asked to split money between the two groups that they were told about. The results demonstrated that teens divided the money in favor of those who had the same opinions as them, or a part of their group (Billig & Tajfel, 1973). This study shows one instance of the tendency for people to show favoritism towards their ingroup. This is relevant to understand why some people may fall victim to fake news if that news is presented by someone within their ingroup. When people see information from websites or individuals in their ingroup, the favoritism for this group could bias their opinions on the reliability of the information, leading them to believe that the information is correct even if it isn’t. Thus, ingroup bias and the associated trust can lead towards the reinforcement of fake news when circulating through members of the same group. One last social psychology concept that may influence people to believe fake news is cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is tension that arises when one is simultaneously aware of two inconsistent cognitions (Myers & Twenge, 2015). This concept is useful to understand why people can be influenced to believe fake news stories as people actively seek to avoid any sources of dissonance by choosing to believe stories that keep their cognitions persistent. For example, if a person stumbles upon a story that is coherent with their already existing views, they will accept this story as it supports their cognitions and causes no sources of discomfort. Any threats to their cognition, such as becoming aware that this story happens to be fake, could be ignored as it is mentally “easier” to accept that the story is true and persists their opinions. In a study testing the parameters of cognitive dissonance, Leon Festinger and James Carlsmith read a fake news report to researchers about a cult of people believing that they were going to be rescued from an apocalyptic flood by flying saucers. Some researchers became devoted to this idea and quit their jobs in order to pursue this group. When the researchers were told the story was fake, instead of returning to their normal lives, their feelings about this alien rescue persisted and they claimed that their faithfulness was the reason God decided to spare the world (Carlsmith & Festinger, 1959). This interesting experiment is very significant as it demonstrates the discomfort people experience when beliefs are challenged, as well as the lengths people will go to reduce this discomfort. This experiment also shows relevance to support why some people believe fake news, as this same dissonance that the researchers felt can be applied to the type of dissonance one might feel if they were to find out a news story that supported their views was fake. People may choose to believe any type of story that aligns with their cognitions regardless of credibility, simply as a way to reduce any type of dissonance that may occur if their beliefs were to be threatened. One way I can use social psych concepts to avoid falling victim to fake news stories is being aware of the prevalence of false information and avoiding overconfidence. In social psychology, the overconfidence phenomenon is the tendency to be more confident than correct (Myers & Twenge, 2015). When filtering through social media, the overconfidence I carry about the accuracy of my opinions could lead me to believing everything I see that further represents my views. Additionally, overconfidence in my abilities to detect fake news could also lead to a greater chance that I will becoming tricked by these false stories. However, by being aware of this phenomenon, and accepting that not every piece of information that supports my views is correct, I believe this can help greatly in becoming more aware about fake news. Another way that I can overcome fake news is by trying to obtain information from sources outside of the possibly biased ones I would typically surround myself with. Related back to the ingroup bias concept, if I continually obtain information from those with the same opinions as me, I will most likely trust everything they say because I favor them more towards the outgroup. However, by actively surrounding myself with a more unbiased perspective, I will be able to obtain information from a wider range of sources. Overall, when it comes to opinionated fake news, by learning not to completely discredit the opposing side, I can increase my chances of not falling victim to fraud stories.