Psychology of Fake News

Rainer Greifeneder is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Basel, Switzerland. His research focuses on the impact of feelings on judgment, individuals’ experiences and perceptions of being socially excluded, and the way individuals construe truth.Mariela E. Jaffé is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Social Psychology at the University of Basel, Switzerland. Her research interests focus on the construal of truth, individuals’ preferences regarding diversity, and the use of decision‐making aids.Eryn J. Newman is a Lecturer at the Australian National University. Her research focuses on how people come to believe and remember things are true and how tangential information or "pseudo‐evidence" can bias people’s assessments of information they encounter.Norbert Schwarz is Provost Professor of Psychology and Marketing and Co‐director of the Mind & Society Center at the University of Southern California. His research addresses the context sensitive and embodied nature of judgment and decision making and its implications for public opinion, consumer behavior, and social science research.

• 01. What is new and true about fake news? Greifeneder, R., Jaffé, M. E., Newman, E., & Schwarz, N. 02. How Bad is the Fake News Problem? The Role of Baseline Information in Public Perceptions Lyons, B., Merola, V., & Reifler, J. 03. Truth and the Dynamics of News Diffusion on Twitter Ackland, R. & Gwynn, K. 04. Retracted Articles – The Scientific Version of Fake News Bar-Ilan, J. & Halevi, G. 05. When (Fake) News Feels True: Intuitions of Truth and the Acceptance and Correction of Misinformation Schwarz, N. & Jalbert, M. 06. Truthiness: How Non-Probative Photos Shape Belief Newman, E. J. & Zhang, L. 07. Can that be True or is it just Fake News? New Perspectives on the Negativity Bias in Judgments of Truth Jaffé, M. E. & Greifeneder, R. 08. False Beliefs: Byproducts of an Adaptive Knowledge Base? Marsh, E. J. & Stanley, M. 09. Psychological Inoculation against Fake News van der Linden, S. & Roozenbeek, J. 10. Your fake news, our facts: Identity-based motivation shapes what we believe, share, and accept Oyserman, D. & Dawson, A. 11. Conspiracy Beliefs: Knowledge, Ego-Defense, and Social Integration in the Processing of Fake News Albaraccin, D. 12. Fake News Attributions as a Source of Nonspecific Structure Axt, J. R., Landau, M. J., & Kay, A. C.

"This volume provides a great entry point into the vast and growing psychological literature on one of the defining problems of the early 21st century – fake news and its dissemination. The chapters by leading scientists first focus on how (false) information spreads online and then examine the cognitive processes involved in accepting and sharing (false) information. The volume concludes by reviewing some of the available countermeasures. Anyone new to this area will find much here to satisfy their curiosity." - Stephan Lewandowsky, Cognitive Science, University of Bristol, UK"Fake news is a serious problem for politics, for science, for journalism, for consumers, and, really, for all of us. We now live in a world where fact and fiction are intentionally blurred by people who hope to deceive us. In this tremendous collection, four scientists have gathered together some of the finest minds to help us understand the problem, and to guide our thinking about what can be done about it. What’s New and True about Fake News is an important and inspirational contribution to one of society’s most vexing problem." - Elizabeth F Loftus, Distinguished Professor, University of California, Irvine, USA"This is an interesting, innovative and important book on a very significant social issue. Fake news have been the focus of intense public debate in recent years, but a proper scientific analysis of this phenomenon has been sorely lacking. Contributors to this excellent volume are world-class researchers who offer a detailed analysis of the psychological processes involved in the production, dissemination, interpretation, sharing, and acceptance of fake news. This book should be essential reading to anyone interested on public affairs, and especially to students, researchers, applied professionals in the social sciences." - Joseph P Forgas, Scientia Professor, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia