- Germans tend to believe in fake news than people from other EU countries
- So-called “Dark Personalities” are prone to false reports
- The reason for lack of differentiation also lies in developmental deficits in some people
Migration, Corona, Russia’s War of Aggression on Ukraine: About websites and social networks will disinformation and conspiracy theories spread. For many people are fake news not recognizable at first glance, go uncritical with such information. According to Survey by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) said only 19 percent of those surveyed German citizens between 16 and 74 years old, already have information on their veracity to have checked. Germany lies with it below the EU average with 23 percent. What traits do people have who are on fake news fall in? Scientists at the University of Würzburg have that analyzed in a study. In order to get the knowledge, the researchers have 600 people in the US confronted with short messages that they had to evaluate as true or false.
“Dark personalities” believe in fake news
The research team not only found out: the fewer the subjects in the study existence of facts believe, the less they can tell true statements from false ones differentiate. The authors noticed something else: people with a so-called “dark personality” more prone to false reports to evaluate as true.
These personality traits include Psychopathy, Narcissism and Machiavellianism. Physicians attribute the latter to people who ruthless pursuit of power put on the day. All three characteristics have one thing in common: people with such qualities it’s about her own self. It is also called scientifically “Dark Triad”.
Study author Jan Philipp Rudloff describes the belief that evaluate false as true, as “post-truth”. According to the communication psychologist, these people bend their reality rightly soas it suits you. He supports the behavior with an example: Post-truth characters say, for example, that they do not wear a mask because Corona is an invention of the media. And they care selfish motives. Who likes to wear a mask? If they are then still convinced that there is no independent scientific facts According to Rudloff, this works particularly well.
Dealing with facts develops in childhood
However, not only that described group vulnerable to fake news. They are also crucial epistemic notionsthat develop at a young age. These describe how to deal with it personal knowledge and how a person meets this trust a statementshe reconsiders, discards or for logical.
Children only see a lot black or white. They do not differentiate, for example they only consider a statement to be true or false, an idea only good or bad. connections to compare, you only learn in one later age. As adults, people have at best the ability to evaluate statements and between facts and opinions to distinguish.
Rudloff assumes that this development, however not everyone goes through it. The danger of such deficits arises, for example with climate change or Corona dangerously apparent.
Conclusion
Many people are unableto distinguish fake news from true information. Würzburg scientists have in one study provesthat dark characters prone to misinformation are. One reason: they are self-centered and bend her truth just as you need them. But also people who have not studied since childhood to differentiatebelieve a lot.
Other interesting research topics:
