The illusory superiority bias famously highlights how poor we often are at knowing our own capabilities. This false sense of confidence can lead to us becoming susceptible to threats as we believe we are more protected than we actually are.

This is aptly illustrated by a recent study from the University of Utah, which shows that people who believe themselves to be immune from fake news are often the most vulnerable to it.

“Though Americans believe confusion caused by false news is extensive, relatively few indicate having seen or shared it,” the researchers say. “If people incorrectly see themselves as highly skilled at identifying false news, they may unwittingly be more likely to consume, believe and share it, especially if it conforms to their worldview.”

Spotting fake news

The researchers conducted a couple of surveys, with participants asked to rate the accuracy of various headlines appearing on Facebook, before then rating their own ability to spot fake news.  These scores were then used to evaluate the overconfidence among the participants, and how that was related to their particular beliefs and behaviors.

“Our results paint a worrying picture,” the researchers explain. “Many people are simply unaware of their own vulnerability to misinformation.”

The results show that around 90% of people thought they were above average in spotting fake news, with around 75% placing themselves an incredible 22 percentiles higher than their actual ability merited.  20% of participants did even worse and rated themselves 50 or more percentiles higher than they should have.

“Using data measuring respondents’ online behavior, we show that those who overrate their ability more frequently visit websites known to spread false or misleading news,” the researchers continue. “These overconfident respondents are also less able to distinguish between true and false claims about current events and report higher willingness to share false content, especially when it aligns with their political leanings.”

Lack of skill

This is worrying, as previous research has shown that our lack of skill can often drive engagement with fake news, with those who are least able to discriminate between fake and authentic news often most likely to consume fake news on a regular basis.

Similarly, this inflated sense of our ability to spot fake news is also seemingly playing a major role in our vulnerability to misinformation.  The researchers believe their findings highlight the importance of addressing our overconfidence, and while they don’t provide a cause of that overconfidence, they nonetheless suggest that it will be difficult to really tackle fake news unless that perception gap is addressed.