Repeated exposure makes people find sharing misinformation less unethical

Evidence

The illusory truth effect works psychologically because when you see or hear something repeatedly, your brain becomes faster at responding to the claim – it feels familiar. This is what we call ‘fluency’ and, unfortunately, our brains often misinterpret fluency as a signal for truth. In other words, the brain will imbue claims that we know or have seen before with a higher truth-value. Research finds that one problematic consequence of being repeatedly exposed to fake news is that, over time, people find it less unethical to share misinformation because it starts to feel true. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 73

Categorization

• QUESTION: Does this desensitization-to-unethical-sharing effect hold across media platforms and different social stakes? Worth chasing.
• XREF: connects to: Each added moral–emotional word boosts post sharing by up to 20 percent — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 727; Repeated exposure alone makes false statements seem more credible to anyone — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice: How to Communicate…, 285; Unchallenged assertions gain credibility with passive audiences — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice: How to Communicate…, 263 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Repeated exposure alone makes false statements seem more credible to anyone #expands (0.85) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 285
• Unchallenged assertions gain credibility with passive audiences #corroborates (0.80) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 263
• Repeating a false claim to debunk it increases its plausibility #expands (0.80) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 164
• Repetition substitutes for evidence as validation in new conspiracism #corroborates (0.80) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 15
• Misinformation often wins because it is simpler and more repeated than truth #expands (0.75) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 87