Abstract
With increasing concern over online misinformation in perspective, this study experimentally examined the cognitive as well as the affective consequences of online search. Results of the two experiments using widely shared, prejudiced misinformation about an ethnic minority in Japan indicated that (a) online search reduces on average the likelihood of believing the misinformation, (b) the magnitude of the effect is larger among those who are predisposed to believe the misinformation, (c) cognitive correction is observed whether searchers are motivated to achieve a directional goal or an accuracy goal, and (d) online search deteriorates affective feeling toward the target groups of the misinformation. Theoretical implications are discussed in relation to the robustness of confirmation bias in online search and the “belief echo” in which exposure to negative misinformation continues to shape attitudes even after the misinformation has been effectively discredited.
Highlights
The threat of misinformation to democratic institutions looms large
The growing demand for online search to meet the need for orientation has resulted in the “Googlization of our lives” [23], wherein people rely heavily on search engines to sift out credible information on economic, health, social, and political aspects of life
People can generally gain credible information using search engines [12,13,14], studies have strongly suggested that motivated reasoning and selective exposure in online search can lead to confirmation bias even when people search for correct, reliable information
Summary
Citation: Kobayashi T, Taka F, Suzuki T (2021) Can “Googling” correct misbelief? Cognitive and affective consequences of online search. PLoS ONE 16(9): e0256575. https://doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pone.0256575 Data Availability Statement: All data files are available from the Dataverse database: https://doi. org/10.7910/DVN/GWISTQ. Funding: Initials of the authors who received each award: TK Grant numbers awarded to each author: 15K13082 The full name of each funder: Grants-inAid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science URL of each funder website: https://www.jsps.go.jp/english/ Did the sponsors or funders play any role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript?: No The
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
