Summary: According to a PLOS ONE study, political bias isn’t all that helps shape how we perceive truth and news, trusting intuitions also plays a part.

Source: Ohio State University.

People who tend to trust their intuition or to believe that the facts they hear are politically biased are more likely to stand behind inaccurate beliefs, a new study suggests.

And those who rely on concrete evidence to form their beliefs are less likely to have misperceptions about high-profile scientific and political issues, said Kelly Garrett, the lead researcher and a professor of communication at The Ohio State University.

“Scientific and political misperceptions are dangerously common in the U.S. today. The willingness of large minorities of Americans to embrace falsehoods and conspiracy theories poses a threat to society’s ability to make well-informed decisions about pressing matters,” Garrett said.

“A lot of attention is paid to our political motivations, and while political bias is a reality, we shouldn’t lose track of the fact that people have other kinds of biases too.”

Garrett and co-author Brian Weeks of the University of Michigan published the study in the journal PLOS ONE. They examined data from three nationally representative surveys that included anywhere from 500 to almost 1,000 participants. Their aim was to better understand how people form their beliefs and how that might contribute to their willingness to accept ideas with little or no evidence to support them.

They looked at how participants responded to 12 questions including “I trust my gut to tell me what’s true and what’s not,” “Evidence is more important than whether something feels true” and “Facts are dictated by those in power.”

They used responses to these questions to assess people’s faith in intuition, their need for evidence, and their belief that “truth” is political.

“These are characteristics that we expected would be important above and beyond the role of partisanship,” Garrett said. “We’re tapping into something about people’s understanding of the world, something about how they think about what they know, how they know it and what is true.”

The researchers compared how participants’ approach to deciding what is true was related to their beliefs about hot-button topics. The study included questions about the debunked link between vaccines and autism and the science-based connection between human activity and climate change.

Garrett and Weeks found that people who believe that truth is shaped by politics and power are more likely to embrace falsehoods. On the other hand, those who rely on evidence were less likely to believe those falsehoods.

The researchers also evaluated survey respondents’ tendency to agree with seven well-known conspiracy theories. More than 45 percent said they didn’t buy that John F. Kennedy was murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald alone; 33 percent agreed that the U.S. government was behind the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and 32 percent said Princess Diana’s death was orchestrated by the British royal family.

Previous research has shown connections between belief in conspiracy theories and education level, religious fundamentalism and party affiliation, Garrett said.

In this study, a belief that truth is political was the strongest predictor of whether someone would buy into conspiracy theories. Garrett also found that those who rely on intuition to assess the truth had a stronger tendency to endorse conspiracies.

“While trusting your gut may be beneficial in some situations, it turns out that putting faith in intuition over evidence leaves us susceptible to misinformation,” said Weeks, who worked on the research as an Ohio State graduate student.

Garrett said it’s important to acknowledge that our beliefs aren’t based solely upon political predispositions.

“Misperceptions don’t always arise because people are blinded by what their party or favorite news outlet is telling them,” he said.

The good news, as Garrett sees it? “Making an effort to base your beliefs on evidence is an easy way to help avoid being misled.”

It’s also possible to influence others in a positive direction, he said, by sharing evidence in a calm, respectful manner when faced with misperceptions. If a Facebook friend, for instance, posts an inaccurate item, a link to a trusted news source or document can be helpful, Garrett said.

“People sometimes say that it’s too hard to know what’s true anymore. That’s just not true. These results suggest that if you pay attention to evidence you’re less likely to hold beliefs that aren’t correct,” he said.

“This isn’t a panacea – there will always be people who believe conspiracies and unsubstantiated claims – but it can make a difference.”

About this neuroscience research article

Funding: The National Science Foundation supported this research.

Source: Kelly Garrett – Ohio State University

Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.

Original Research: Full open access research for “Epistemic beliefs’ role in promoting misperceptions and conspiracist ideation” by R. Kelly Garrett and Brian E. Weeks in PLOS ONE. Published online September 18 2017 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0184733

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Ohio State University. “Reliance on ‘Gut Feelings’ Linked to Belief in Fake News.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 18 September 2017.

<https://neurosciencenews.com/gut-feeling-fake-news-7513/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Ohio State University. (2017, September 18). Reliance on ‘Gut Feelings’ Linked to Belief in Fake News. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved September 18, 2017 from https://neurosciencenews.com/gut-feeling-fake-news-7513/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Ohio State University. “Reliance on ‘Gut Feelings’ Linked to Belief in Fake News.” https://neurosciencenews.com/gut-feeling-fake-news-7513/ (accessed September 18, 2017).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]

Abstract

Epistemic beliefs’ role in promoting misperceptions and conspiracist ideation

Widespread misperceptions undermine citizens’ decision-making ability. Conclusions based on falsehoods and conspiracy theories are by definition flawed. This article demonstrates that individuals’ epistemic beliefs–beliefs about the nature of knowledge and how one comes to know–have important implications for perception accuracy. The present study uses a series of large, nationally representative surveys of the U.S. population to produce valid and reliable measures of three aspects of epistemic beliefs: reliance on intuition for factual beliefs (Faith in Intuition for facts), importance of consistency between empirical evidence and beliefs (Need for evidence), and conviction that “facts” are politically constructed (Truth is political). Analyses confirm that these factors complement established predictors of misperception, substantively increasing our ability to explain both individuals’ propensity to engage in conspiracist ideation, and their willingness to embrace falsehoods about high-profile scientific and political issues. Individuals who view reality as a political construct are significantly more likely to embrace falsehoods, whereas those who believe that their conclusions must hew to available evidence tend to hold more accurate beliefs. Confidence in the ability to intuitively recognize truth is a uniquely important predictor of conspiracist ideation. Results suggest that efforts to counter misperceptions may be helped by promoting epistemic beliefs emphasizing the importance of evidence, cautious use of feelings, and trust that rigorous assessment by knowledgeable specialists is an effective guard against political manipulation.

“Epistemic beliefs’ role in promoting misperceptions and conspiracist ideation” by R. Kelly Garrett and Brian E. Weeks in PLOS ONE. Published online September 18 2017 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0184733

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