Who is most likely to believe online misinformation, and why? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development explored this question with a large-scale study. Their findings challenge common beliefs about education, age, and political identity in shaping susceptibility to false information.
The study analyzed data from 31 experiments in the United States between 2006 and 2023, covering 256,337 judgments from 11,561 participants aged 18 to 88. The researchers examined how factors like age, education, gender, and political identity, along with cognitive traits such as analytical thinking, political bias, motivated reasoning, and familiarity with news, influenced people’s ability to separate fact from fiction. The results were surprising.
Little protection
Education, often seen as a shield against misinformation, made little difference. People with more formal education were just as likely to believe false news as those with less schooling. This contradicts the idea that higher education naturally strengthens critical thinking.
Age also produced unexpected results. Older adults, commonly thought to be more gullible, were actually better at spotting false headlines than younger ones. However, past research suggests they are also more likely to share misinformation, showing that vulnerability can take different forms.
Political beliefs mattered. Republicans were less accurate than Democrats at judging news accuracy, labeling more headlines as true. This aligns with earlier studies suggesting conservatives are more prone to misinformation, though the reasons remain unclear. One possibility is motivated reasoning—people favor information that supports their existing beliefs.
Partisan biases
Surprisingly, the study found that analytical thinkers, expected to be more objective, were actually more prone to partisan bias. This effect, known as motivated reflection, shows how reasoning skills can sometimes reinforce pre-existing views instead of challenging them.
The biggest factor in misinformation susceptibility was familiarity. People were more likely to believe a headline if they had seen it before, regardless of whether it was true. This highlights a major risk of social media, where repeated exposure can make false claims seem credible.
To address these issues, the researchers recommend better media literacy education, starting early. Younger adults, despite being tech-savvy, struggled more than older adults to distinguish truth from falsehood. Efforts to combat misinformation should focus not just on critical thinking but also on reducing the impact of familiarity and political bias. Encouraging civil conversations across political lines may also help. In a world flooded with misinformation, understanding how people process news is key to ensuring truth prevails.
