Humor and satire fake news and attitudes towards politics: Comparative analysis of perceived realism and feelings of efficacy, alienation and cynicism in communication students

Abstract

This research explores the correlation between the level of consumption of formal information and the perceived reality of fake news and the latter’s influence on political attitudes of efficacy, alienation, and cynicism. For this purpose, a survey was applied by probability sampling by clusters to undergraduate and graduate students of Communication Sciences (n=682) from Spain, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. The results show an inversely proportional relationship between the consumption of formal information and the perceived reality of fake news and a direct moderation between the perceived reality of fake news and feelings of alienation and cynicism.