Abstract
Both conservative and liberal Americans share fake news because they don't want to be ostracized from their social circles, according to research published by the American Psychological Association, a March 9 news release stated. “Conformity and social pressure are key motivators of the spread of fake news,” said lead researcher Matthew Asher Lawson, Ph.D., an assistant professor of decision sciences at INSEAD, a business school in France. “If someone in your online tribe is sharing fake news, then you feel pressure to share it as well, even if you don't know whether it's false or true.” The research was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. The proliferation of fake news contributes to increasing political polarization and distrust of democratic institutions, according to the Brookings Institution. But fake news doesn't always proliferate because of dark motives or a call for action. The researchers began studying the issue after noticing people in their own social networks sharing fake news seemingly without malicious intent or ideological purpose. Many complex factors contribute to people's decisions to share fake news so reducing its spread is difficult, and the role of social media companies isn't always clear, Lawson said.
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