Who is particularly susceptible to disinformation on the Internet? The German "Max Planck" Institute conducted a study on the topic, within the framework of which data from 31 experiments carried out in the USA between 2006 and 2023 with 11,500 participants were analyzed. The most unexpected conclusion made by the scientists is the following: that people with higher education are just as susceptible to fake news as the rest.
Why are scientists interested in this problem? Almost five billion people in the world receive information and news from social networks. The influence of disinformation, especially during election campaigns and elections, causes serious concerns among many. There are many studies on the subject, but to this day there is no clear answer as to who is most susceptible to disinformation. That is why the Berlin-based Max Planck Institute for Human Development analyzed available data from the United States to determine the influence of factors such as age, education, gender, political position, analytical abilities, etc. on the perception of disinformation on the Internet.
Education, age, political bias
The scientists concluded that educational level does not have a significant impact on the ability to distinguish between reliable and false information. This contradicts the widespread belief that more educated people are less susceptible to disinformation, mainly because higher education contributes to critical thinking.
The researchers also tested assumptions about the influence of age on the perception of disinformation. And although it is believed that older people are more susceptible to fake news, the scientists' analysis found that they actually performed better in distinguishing true and false headlines than younger audiences. Older people also showed a more skeptical approach to assessing headlines from the perspective of disinformation.
As for the influence of political views, the scientists from "Max Planck" came to the following conclusion: Republicans are more susceptible to disinformation than Democrats. Republicans were also less accurate in their assessment of the quality of news in relation to the reliability of the information, while Democrats were more skeptical.
In general - the higher the analytical abilities of a person, the more critical his assessment of the reliability of the information. And another conclusion that scientists have come to: people believe more in news that matches their political views. This phenomenon is known as "partisan bias", i.e., the tendency to confirm one's own point of view.
However, it turns out that people with more developed analytical thinking are more susceptible to confirmation of their preferences. This tendency is known as "motivated reflection" - a cognitive process in which analytical thinking works against the individual's judgment to protect their existing beliefs, values, or political views.
Young people have deficits in evaluating information
The analysis determined that the most important factor was the way in which a given information was learned. By saying that they had already seen the headline of a certain news item, respondents believed that it was true. That is, the more often they came across one or another piece of news, the more its credibility increased in their eyes. This conclusion confirms the danger of the massive spread of fakes, especially on social networks.
In 2024, disinformation and false information for the first time appeared in a leading position on the list of the greatest short-term global risks in the world. That is why the study by scientists from "Max Planck" is extremely relevant.
Especially in connection with the increasing spread of right-wing populism, the "Max Planck" society also emphasizes the need to increase media literacy and strengthen analytical abilities. As the scientists point out, it is the younger generation, who grew up with new technologies, that shows a deficit in recognizing false information. For German scientists, it is important to draw attention to the problem of disinformation and to raise public awareness of the threats posed by fake news.
Author: Marina Jung