why we share misinformation

We all know that "fake news" (aka misinformation and disinformation) is a problem, but why is so much of it circulating online? Well, of course the answer is complex; but the reason we share misinformation really comes down to five specific cognitive biases. 

1. The Halo Effect

The halo effect is a bias that makes us more trusting of a person because they possess a positive characteristic. And when we trust people, we tend to share the information they're presenting.  

Think about the people you follow on social media (the ones who aren't your friends). It's likely you follow them because they're charismatic, attractive, or interesting in some way. (After all, you don’t get to 100,000 followers by being dull and unappealing!) And while this is fine, we often place too much trust in these people due to one aspect we like about them. So for example, if we find someone attractive, we might believe they are also intelligent. Or if they're charming, we might think they're trustworthy. This can lead us to share their content or believe information they're sharing, even when it's misinformation. 

2. In-Group Bias

We have a tendency to favor people that we see as being part of our team or in-group. This could mean choosing friends who share the same religion or political beliefs, or gravitating towards people who look like you or share your nationality. 

Why we do this has been heavily debated, but the most common theory is that it's our way of forming social identities. Humans typically love putting things into categories, and we put ourselves into categories as well (gender, sexual orientation, religion, political affiliation, etc.). While this can be a way to feel a sense of identity and belonging, it can also lead to prejudices and unfair allegiance. In terms of sharing misinformation, a recent study showed that participants were significantly more likely to share information if it aligned with their political views, regardless of whether the information was true or not.

3. ​Affect Heuristic

The word "affect" in psychology just means anything related to emotion, and "heuristics" are mental shortcuts that our brains take when processing information. So the affect heuristic is just our brains' way of making quick decisions based on emotion.

​It’s no secret that a lot of misinformation on the internet evokes fear in the people reading it, and it can really impact a person’s behaviour if they feel like they can do something to avoid being harmed. But we also have a tendency to share information (and believe it!) if it evokes other emotions such as anger, joy or sadness.

4. ​Bandwagon Effect

The bandwagon effect is when we do something or believe something just because it seems like everyone else is doing or believing it. This is a huge cause of misinformation circulation since we tend to share the same stories our friends share, without fact-checking first. 

This effect was demonstrated in an article published in Science magazine where people were shown posts on a fictional social media platform. If a person encountered a post that already had a lot of likes or upvotes, they were much more likely to upvote it themselves.

5. ​Illusory Truth Effect

The illusory truth effect is our tendency to believe something just because it’s been repeated. Experts believe this is because "repetition increases processing fluency." 

​This is such a strong bias that even if we know a piece of information is false the first time we hear it, if we keep hearing it, we'll eventually believe it’s true, and we’ll be more likely to share it. 

How We Can Stop the Spread of Misinformation

Knowing about these cognitive biases is a great first step to understanding why we believe and share misinformation. But the key to stopping the spread of misinformation is easy: just slow down. 

If a piece of news makes you anxious, scared, or even excited, take a pause and do some fact-checking. Find out where the information came from and whether it was a reliable source. And finally, check out my video below, all about why we share misinformation. 

You can also find resources on my TPT (formerly Teachers Pay Teachers) store, where I have worksheets on a variety of cognitive biases and logical fallacies. 

Please make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more videos on how we can think more critically through science. And if you have any ideas for future videos, pop them in the comments below!