Information battleground: Conflict perceptions motivate the belief in and sharing of misinformation about the adversary.
Misinformation has emerged as a major societal concern. But why do citizens contribute to the dissemination of falsehoods online? This article investigates this question by focusing on the role of motivated reasoning and, in particular, perceptions of group-based conflict. It examines the effect of...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023-01-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282308&type=printable |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850184985674252288 |
|---|---|
| author | Honorata Mazepus Mathias Osmundsen Michael Bang Petersen Dimiter Toshkov Antoaneta Dimitrova |
| author_facet | Honorata Mazepus Mathias Osmundsen Michael Bang Petersen Dimiter Toshkov Antoaneta Dimitrova |
| author_sort | Honorata Mazepus |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Misinformation has emerged as a major societal concern. But why do citizens contribute to the dissemination of falsehoods online? This article investigates this question by focusing on the role of motivated reasoning and, in particular, perceptions of group-based conflict. It examines the effect of perceived conflict on the endorsement of false news in the context of a regional conflict between Russia and the West as experienced by Ukrainian citizens. In our survey experiment, a sample of Ukrainians (N = 1,615) was randomly assigned to read negative false news stories about Russia, the European Union or Tanzania-a country with no stakes in the conflict. The results show that higher perceived conflict between Ukraine and Russia makes Ukrainians less likely to endorse false news targeting the European Union, but more likely to endorse false news that paint a negative picture of Russia. This finding extends the support for motivated reasoning theory beyond Western contexts investigated so far. Importantly, the effects of conflict perceptions remain strong after controlling for group identity and political knowledge of participants. These results advance our understanding of why false information is disseminated and point to the importance of conflict de-escalation to prevent the diffusion of falsehoods. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4c485b6cc7404e9a87035a8c4e089d9e |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-4c485b6cc7404e9a87035a8c4e089d9e2025-08-20T02:16:54ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01183e028230810.1371/journal.pone.0282308Information battleground: Conflict perceptions motivate the belief in and sharing of misinformation about the adversary.Honorata MazepusMathias OsmundsenMichael Bang PetersenDimiter ToshkovAntoaneta DimitrovaMisinformation has emerged as a major societal concern. But why do citizens contribute to the dissemination of falsehoods online? This article investigates this question by focusing on the role of motivated reasoning and, in particular, perceptions of group-based conflict. It examines the effect of perceived conflict on the endorsement of false news in the context of a regional conflict between Russia and the West as experienced by Ukrainian citizens. In our survey experiment, a sample of Ukrainians (N = 1,615) was randomly assigned to read negative false news stories about Russia, the European Union or Tanzania-a country with no stakes in the conflict. The results show that higher perceived conflict between Ukraine and Russia makes Ukrainians less likely to endorse false news targeting the European Union, but more likely to endorse false news that paint a negative picture of Russia. This finding extends the support for motivated reasoning theory beyond Western contexts investigated so far. Importantly, the effects of conflict perceptions remain strong after controlling for group identity and political knowledge of participants. These results advance our understanding of why false information is disseminated and point to the importance of conflict de-escalation to prevent the diffusion of falsehoods.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282308&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Honorata Mazepus Mathias Osmundsen Michael Bang Petersen Dimiter Toshkov Antoaneta Dimitrova Information battleground: Conflict perceptions motivate the belief in and sharing of misinformation about the adversary. PLoS ONE |
| title | Information battleground: Conflict perceptions motivate the belief in and sharing of misinformation about the adversary. |
| title_full | Information battleground: Conflict perceptions motivate the belief in and sharing of misinformation about the adversary. |
| title_fullStr | Information battleground: Conflict perceptions motivate the belief in and sharing of misinformation about the adversary. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Information battleground: Conflict perceptions motivate the belief in and sharing of misinformation about the adversary. |
| title_short | Information battleground: Conflict perceptions motivate the belief in and sharing of misinformation about the adversary. |
| title_sort | information battleground conflict perceptions motivate the belief in and sharing of misinformation about the adversary |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282308&type=printable |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT honoratamazepus informationbattlegroundconflictperceptionsmotivatethebeliefinandsharingofmisinformationabouttheadversary AT mathiasosmundsen informationbattlegroundconflictperceptionsmotivatethebeliefinandsharingofmisinformationabouttheadversary AT michaelbangpetersen informationbattlegroundconflictperceptionsmotivatethebeliefinandsharingofmisinformationabouttheadversary AT dimitertoshkov informationbattlegroundconflictperceptionsmotivatethebeliefinandsharingofmisinformationabouttheadversary AT antoanetadimitrova informationbattlegroundconflictperceptionsmotivatethebeliefinandsharingofmisinformationabouttheadversary |