How Political Identity and Misinformation Priming Affect Truth Judgments and Sharing Intention of Partisan News

Abstract

The current research investigated (a) if political identity predicts perceived truthfulness of and the intention to share partisan news, and (b) if a media literacy video that warns of misinformation (priming-video) mitigates the partisan bias by enhancing truth discernment. To evaluate if heightened salience of misinformation accounts for the effects of the media literacy intervention, we also tested if recalling prior exposure to misinformation (priming-question) would yield the same results as watching the literacy video does. Two web-based experiments were conducted in South Korea. In Study 1 (N = 384), both liberals and conservatives found politically congenial information more truthful and shareworthy. Although misinformation priming lowered perceived truthfulness and sharing intention of partisan news, such effects were greater for false, rather than true information, thereby improving truth discernment. Study 2 (N = 600) replicated Study 1 findings, except that the misinformation priming lowered perceived truthfulness and the sharing intention across the board, regardless of the veracity of information. Collectively, our findings demonstrate the robust operation of partisan bias in the processing and sharing of partisan news. Misinformation priming aided in the detection of falsehood, but it also induced distrust in reliable information, posing a challenge in fighting misinformation.