Center for Social Data Analytics Colloquium- Bertram Gawronski, UT Austin

Bertram Gawronski, UT Austin,

Talk title: "Why Do People Fall for Misinformation?"

Abstract: Misinformation represents one of the greatest challenges for the functioning of societies in the information age. In the current talk, I will draw on Signal Detection Theory to identify two distinct factors in misinformation susceptibility: truth sensitivity, conceptualized as accurate discrimination between true and false information, and partisan bias, conceptualized as lower acceptance threshold for ideology-congruent information compared to ideology-incongruent information. I will present the results of several studies that investigated (1) the extent to which acceptance of misinformation is accounted for by truth sensitivity and partisan bias and (2) determinants and correlates of truth sensitivity and partisan bias in responses to misinformation. The findings provide nuanced insights into why people fall for misinformation and suggest potential strategies to combat the spread of misinformation.