Work

Partisan attitudes and the motivation behind the spread of misleading information

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: It is widely known that partisan attitudes drive individuals to mistakenly believe misleading information is true, resulting in the spread of misleading information. It is also possible that partisan attitudes create a gap between belief and behavior. That is, partisan attitudes lead individuals to spread misleading information even if they know that it is unlikely to be true. However, the latter possibility has not been closely examined. This study aims to fill this lacuna. We find evidence that partisan attitudes hindered the correction of mistaken beliefs, which drove individuals to spread misleading information. However, there is no evidence that partisan attitudes contribute to the spread of misleading information by widening the gap between belief and behavior.

Source: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05714-x

Authors: Myunghoon Kang, Chunho Park, Jisung Yoon, Greg Chih-Hsin Sheen

Institutions: Pohang University of Science and Technology, Nazarbayev University, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Academia Sinica

Language: English

Topic: Misinformation and Its Impacts

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,890

Funders: National Science and Technology Council, Academia Sinica, National Science and Technology Council