Emotions, Partisanship, and Misperceptions: How Anger and Anxiety Moderate the Effect of Partisan Bias on Susceptibility to Political Misinformation. (19th June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Weeks, Brian E.
• Is Part Of: Journal of communication. Volume 65:Number 4(2015:Aug.)
• Page Start: 699
• Page End: 719
• Publication Date: 2015-06-19
• Subjects: Communication -- Periodicals; Communication and traffic -- Periodicals; Information theory -- Periodicals; Mass media -- Periodicals; 302.2
• DOI: 10.1111/jcom.12164
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-9916

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="jcom12164-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p id="jcom12164-para-0001">Citizens are frequently misinformed about political issues and candidates but the circumstances under which inaccurate beliefs emerge are not fully understood. This experimental study demonstrates that the independent experience of two emotions, anger and anxiety, in part determines whether citizens consider misinformation in a partisan or open‐minded fashion. Anger encourages partisan, motivated evaluation of uncorrected misinformation that results in beliefs consistent with the supported political party, while anxiety at times promotes initial beliefs based less on partisanship and more on the information environment. However, exposure to corrections improves belief accuracy, regardless of emotion or partisanship. The results indicate that the unique experience of anger and anxiety can affect the accuracy of political beliefs by strengthening or attenuating the influence of partisanship.</p> </abstract>