Effects of Fact Checks on Partisan Beliefs and Perceptions of Bias

• In Event: Misinformation and Correction

Abstract

While fact checking has come into its own as a journalistic enterprise, research has scrambled to keep up. It is not clear whether people find fact checking (1) credible and (2) persuasive. These questions are particularly compelling for strong issue partisans who, in the face of a disagreeable fact check, may be motivated to protect their own opinions. The experimental design focused on the gun regulation debate and respondents were recruited from two prominent national organizations, one advocating for gun rights and the other for policies to reduce gun violence. Respondents filled out an online questionnaire which included manipulations of pro- or counter-attitudinal fact check reports. The questionnaire measured beliefs about gun-related issues as well as evaluations of media reports and the fact checks themselves. The data provide convincing evidence that, despite partisans’ perceptions that fact checks are hostile, fact-checking can have a narrow persuasive effect on substantive factual beliefs.

Authors

• Lucas Graves, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

• Albert C. Gunther, U of Wisconsin, Madison

• Ayellet Pelled, University of Wisconsin

• Min-Hsin Su, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Yidong Wang, UW - Madison

• Yini Zhang, U of Wisconsin Madison