Why Do We Think Fake News Is Real?

These days we are experiencing an epidemic of fake news reports and half-truths, otherwise known as “fake news”. Misinformation is the order of the day, and we do not know whether we should believe the news or not. But people need information, and we want real information, especially if it matches what we believe. Yet there is more and more fake news every day.

To understand this phenomenon, we can turn to the psychology of motivation. In addition to having the conscious desire to obtain true information,  we have other unconscious motivations that make us try to (at least) check if what we think is true.  In this way, people will accept messages that satisfy these motivations as true, even when they are false. The opposite can also happen. We can reject information because it does not match what we want to believe, even if it is true.

The need for cognitive termination

One of our motivations is the need for cognitive termination, which is related to uncertainty. When this need is activated, people feel trapped by simplistic messages that confirm absolute truths. As if that were not enough, we all have this need that may increase the need for termination. Even in situations that cause disorder and generate uncertainty.

An example of this is a simplified message that says that immigrants are responsible for all the social problems we have. This message divides the world in two. To good and bad people. We are good and immigrants are bad. It also gives a “scapegoat” for our problems, which gives us someone we can blame our problems on. When this is the case,  people are more likely to believe in and accept simplified messages without much scrutiny.

The need for concrete results

In the same way  , people also believe in  messages that confirm that a certain thing is possible if these messages match what they want to believe.  But we can not believe anything just because we think a certain way.

When the fake news is too outrageous, such as saying that Barack Obama was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and setting it up against what we know or what we think is reasonable, people will most likely reject it, even if it gives a specific result.

Despite what has been seen, a  lack of knowledge can make people accept even the most extravagant news.  Several studies have shown that the highly educated and the elderly are less exposed to fake news. This is because they have more resources in terms of critical capacity when it comes to marking the news as true or false.

False news reports

In cases where lack of knowledge dominates, what we usually do is trust the people we see as experts.  When the car will not start, call a mechanic you can trust. When you become ill, visit a doctor you trust.

In the past, for most informative societies, politics and world-related issues, a repeat of respectable social institutions (such as a government body, a congressional representative, the president or mass media sources) had control over reliability and they were widely trusted.

But this has changed, and neither the government nor the media give the confidence they gave before. The recent crisis and cases of corruption have contributed to people not trusting them as much. In contrast to this lack of trust in the ” mainstream ” media, people look for other sources of information that satisfy the need for closure and concrete results.

Lots of fake news

The advances in the Internet and the emergence of social networks have also contributed to our lack of trust in experts and the rise of fake news. These confusing times we live in, characterized by rapid change and increasing agitation (such as the rise of Asian forces such as China and India, terrorist groups, economic instability, the refugee crisis, etc.) have made us need up-to-date information. We want to know what happens the minute it happens.

This demand, together with the vacuum created to disconnect from information sources, has opened the door to new news sources, especially on the internet and via social networks. These new sources, where there is little or no control, and which are motivated or tempted to change people’s political opinions, tend to be manipulative.

Regardless of the way it is done,  the current misinformation plague is a cause for concern. It requires and justifies an attempt by social institutions aimed at restoring their credibility.