Article
What makes citizens likely to believe and spread fake news?
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1Trust assigned to the news media brand increased the perceived truthfulness of the news story, regardless of whether it was based on real or fake information.
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2A positive statement in the headline increased the perceived truthfulness and the likelihood of the story being shared.
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3While higher levels of (self-assessed) previous knowledge on the topic could not predict the perceived truthfulness given to fake news stories, it did increase the likelihood of sharing, and thus spreading them.
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4Identifying oneself as being on the political right or sharing core beliefs expressed in the story ‒ such as believing that there should be a death penalty for certain crimes or believing that abortion should be banned ‒ was associated with higher perceived truthfulness given to fake news and the likelihood of sharing it.
