Abstract
Across three separate experiments, I find that exposure to negative political information continues to shape attitudes even after the information has been effectively discredited. I call these effects “belief echoes.” Results suggest that belief echoes can be created through an automatic or deliberative process. Belief echoes occur even when the misinformation is corrected immediately, the “gold standard” of journalistic fact-checking. The existence of belief echoes raises ethical concerns about journalists’ and fact-checking organizations’ efforts to publicly correct false claims.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 460-480 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | Political Communication |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2 2016 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- continued influence effect
- corrections
- fact-checking
- misinformation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Communication
- Sociology and Political Science