Repetition could increase the perceived truth of conspiracy theories

Béna, Jérémy; Rihet, Mathias; Carreras, Ophélie; Terrier, Patrice

doi:10.31234/osf.io/3gc6k

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…At first sight, such an explanation seems contradicted by recent studies that implemented judgment contexts that may be reminiscent of social media contexts, and still found the typical truth-by-repetition effect. For instance, the truth-by-repetition effect has been found with false and misleading information (see Pillai & Fazio, 2021) that can be repeatedly encountered on social media, such as fake news (Pennycook et al 2018), conspiracy statements (Béna et al, 2022), and highly implausible statements (Lacassagne et al, 2022). Studies mimicking social media postings also replicated the truth-by-repetition effect (e.g., Nadarevic et al, 2020;Smelter & Calvillo, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Robustness Tests Replicate Corneille et al.’s (2020) Fake News by Repetition Effect

Béna

Corneille

Mierop

et al. 2022

International Review of Social Psychology

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Corneille et al. (2020) found that repetition increases judgments that statements have been used as fake news on social media. They also found that repetition increases truth judgments and decreases falsehood judgments (i.e., two instantiations of the truth-by-repetition effect). These results supported an ecological explanation of the truth-by-repetition effect better than two alternative accounts. However, the first author of the present article found unsuspected programming issues in Corneille et al.'s experiments. These programming issues introduced confounds that may have been responsible for the results. To estimate whether Corneille et al.'s main findings and claims hold when correcting these issues, the current team agreed on two highpowered preregistered replications of Corneille et al.'s experiments (N total = 540). The results replicate Corneille et al.'s findings, which are more consistent with an ecological account of repetition effects on judgment than the alternative accounts tested in the original publication.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Robustness Tests Replicate Corneille et al.’s (2020) Fake News by Repetition Effect

Béna

Corneille

Mierop

et al. 2022

International Review of Social Psychology

Self Cite

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“…The idea is that if people are just presented often enough with some (deviant) idea (i.e., the echo chamber), they will see it as true and valuable (mere exposure). There is little doubt that processing fluency, often by mere repetition, can create a subjective sense of truth (Béna et al, 2022;Fazio et al, 2015Fazio et al, , 2022Hasher et al, 1977;Stump et al, 2022), but, as we will argue next, there is more to (conspiracy) belief formation than this.…”

Section: Beyond Processing Fluencymentioning

confidence: 98%

Insight in the Conspiracist’s Mind

Van de Cruys,

Bervoets,

Gadsby

et al. 2023

Pers Soc Psychol Rev

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Academic Abstract The motto of the conspiracist, “Do your own research,” may seem ludicrous to scientists. Indeed, it is often dismissed as a mere rhetorical device that conspiracists use to give themselves the semblance of science. In this perspective paper, we explore the information-seeking activities (“research”) that conspiracists do engage in. Drawing on the experimental psychology of aha experiences, we explain how these activities, as well as the epistemic experiences that precede (curiosity) or follow (insight or “aha” experiences) them, may play a crucial role in the appeal and development of conspiracy beliefs. Aha moments have properties that can be exploited by conspiracy theories, such as the potential for false but seemingly grounded conclusions. Finally, we hypothesize that the need for autonomous epistemic agency and discovery is universal but increases as people experience more uncertainty and/or feel epistemically excluded in society, hence linking it to existing literature on explaining conspiracy theories. Public Abstract Recent events have made it painfully clear that conspiracy beliefs can tear deep rifts in society and that we still have not found an adequate, de-escalating response to this. To understand the appeal of conspiracy theories and find new, humanizing ways to talk about them, we propose in this perspective paper to start from the universal human need to autonomously make discoveries through personal knowledge-generating actions. Indeed, psychological research shows that the aha experiences that accompany subjective discoveries create confidence in and perceived ownership of ideas that may be exploited by conspiracy theories. We hypothesize that people experiencing more uncertainty and/or epistemic exclusion in society will especially feel the need to re-establish autonomous epistemic agency and discovery. While this explanation starts from shared human experiences and practices, it also illustrates the potential of those processes to lead to a narrowed world and ossified cognition.

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“…the echo chamber) they will see it as true and valuable (mere exposure). There is little doubt that processing fluency, often by mere repetition, can create a subjective sense of truth (Béna et al, 2022;Fazio et al, 2015Fazio et al, , 2022Hasher et al, 1977;Stump et al, 2022), but there is more to (conspiracy) belief formation than this.…”

Section: Beyond Processing Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Insight in the conspiracist’s mind

Cruys¹,

Bervoets²,

Gadsby³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The motto of the conspiracist, “Do your own research,” may seem ludicrous to scientists. Indeed, it is often dismissed as a mere rhetorical device that conspiracists use to give themselves the semblance of science. In this perspective paper, we explore the information-seeking activities (“research”) that conspiracists do engage in. Drawing on the experimental psychology of aha experiences, we explain how these activities, as well as the epistemic experiences that precede (curiosity) or follow (insight or “aha” experiences) them, may play a crucial role in the appeal and development of conspiracy beliefs. Aha moments have properties that can be exploited by conspiracy theories, such as the potential for false but seemingly grounded conclusions. Finally, we hypothesize that the need for autonomous epistemic agency and discovery is universal but increases as people experience more uncertainty and/or feel epistemically excluded in society, hence linking it to existing literature on explaining conspiracy theories.

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Repetition could increase the perceived truth of conspiracy theories

Cited by 7 publications

References 47 publications

Robustness Tests Replicate Corneille et al.’s (2020) Fake News by Repetition Effect

Robustness Tests Replicate Corneille et al.’s (2020) Fake News by Repetition Effect

Insight in the Conspiracist’s Mind

Insight in the conspiracist’s mind

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