ABSTRACT

Exposure to fake news stories can result in false memories for the events portrayed, and this effect can be enhanced if the stories conform to the reader's ideological position. We exposed 1299 UK residents to fabricated news stories about Brexit. 44% of participants reported a false memory for at least one fabricated story, with a higher rate of false memories for stories that reflected poorly on the opposing side. This effect of ideological congruency was somewhat greater among participants who were exposed to a threat to their social identity as a Leave or Remain supporter; however, this moderating effect was only statistically significant in exploratory analyses using a more conservative definition of false memory. Participants with higher cognitive ability and analytical reasoning scores were less susceptible to false memories. Individuals with better knowledge about Brexit showed better discrimination between true and false stories, while self-reported engagement with the Brexit debate was associated with an increased tendency to “remember” any story, regardless of its truth. These results implicate a combination of social and individual factors in the development of false memories from fake news, and suggest that exposure to social identity threats may enhance the polarising effects of fake news.

摘要

接触虚假新闻故事会导致对所描绘事件的错误记忆，如果故事符合读者的意识形态立场，这种效果会得到加强。我们让 1299 名英国居民接触到有关英国退欧的捏造新闻报道。44% 的参与者报告至少对一个编造的故事有错误记忆，对于在对方反映不佳的故事，错误记忆的比率更高。这种意识形态一致性的影响在那些作为“离开”或“留下”支持者而面临社会身份威胁的参与者中更大一些；然而，这种调节作用仅在使用更保守的错误记忆定义的探索性分析中具有统计学意义。认知能力和分析推理得分较高的参与者不太容易受到错误记忆的影响。对英国退欧有更好了解的人在真实和虚假故事之间表现出更好的区分，而自我报告的英国退欧辩论参与与“记住”任何故事的倾向有关，而不管其真实性如何。这些结果表明，社会和个人因素在假新闻错误记忆的发展过程中的结合，并表明暴露于社会身份威胁可能会增强假新闻的两极分化效应。