In view of events such as the public denial of climate change research by well-known politicians, the effects of postfactual disinformation and emotionalisation are discussed for science. Here, so-called ‘fake news’ are of focus. These are considered problematic, particularly in a high-choice media environment as users tend to show selective behaviour. Much research has demonstrated this selective exposure approach, which has roots in the Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger, 1957). However, research on the processes of coping with dissonance is still considered sparse. In particular, communication scholars have overlooked emotional states and negotiations. This article analyses the affects that are aroused when users are confronted with opinion-challenging disinformation and how they (emotionally) cope by using different strategies for online information. For this, we used the context of climate change that is widely accepted in Germany. The innovative research design included pre- and post-survey research, stimulus exposure (denying ‘fake news’), observations, and retrospective interviews (n = 50). Through this, we find that perceptions and coping strategies vary individually and that overt behaviour, such as searching for counter-arguments, should be seen against the background of individual ideas and motivations, such as believing in an easy rejection of arguments. Confirming neuroscientific findings, participants felt relieved and satisfied once they were able to dissolve their dissonant state and negative arousal. Dissatisfaction and frustration were expressed if this had not been accomplished.

The emergence of disinformation challenges today’s democracies. Selective exposure research assumes that psychological biases cause people to turn to attitude-reinforcing disinformation, though studies indicate that this only holds true for small niches of online audiences. However, when online, unbiased users as well may encounter disinformation, which for them appear to be attitude-challenging. How unbiased online users experience and cope with dissonance triggered by this, and whether this affects their pre-existing attitudes, has hardly been explored. This research gap is addressed using the polarized topic of climate change as an example. An experimental research design is applied combining stimulus exposure, survey research, eye tracking, and interviews ( n = 50). The findings indicate that unbiased users are not entirely resistant to disinformation influence. However, attitude effects could not be fully explained by selection behavior but instead through different feelings and strategies of coping with dissonance and patterns of performing online information searches.

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Der folgende Theoriebeitrag konzentriert die kommunikationswissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzung mit der Komplexitätssteigerung moderner Lebenswelten auf die Frage nach der Bedeutung neuer Medien für die gesellschaftliche und individuelle Komplexitätsbewältigung. Diesbezüglich rückt Hypertextualität als non-lineares und dynamisches Organisationsprinzip von Wissen und Informationen ins Zentrum der Diskussionen medialer Ursachen und Lösungen gesteigerter kommunikativer und sozialer Komplexität. Der Überblick hierauf bezogener Arbeiten, die den Zusammenhang von Hypertextualität und Komplexität(sbewältigung) sowohl auf struktureller als auch auf individueller (Nutzungs-)Ebene reflektieren, soll dazu beitragen, dieses Forschungsfeld systematisch zu erschließen. Auf Basis dessen wird aufgezeigt, wie sich bestehende Ansätze zur Untersuchung von Komplexitätsbewältigung und Hypertextnutzung im Anschluss an die Aneignungsforschung um eine alltags-und problemorientierte Forschungsperspektive auf subjektive Erklärungszusammenhänge konzeptionell ergänzen lassen.