Note: The views and opinions expressed in blog/editorial posts are those of the author. They do not reflect the views or opinions of Misbar.
Misinformation and fake news have frequently appeared in the middle of a crisis or conflict, focusing on people's misunderstanding of facts or a lack of access to information. In this context, our team has debunked numerous false and misleading reports on the pandemic and has most recently worked on reports concerning the Omicron variant.
Misbar's team also fact-checked numerous misleading videos and images related to the recent explosions that rocked the UAE on January 17, 2022.
Many communication experts attribute the spread of such stories and misinformation to fear of the future and emotional content, particularly in a pandemic where nothing is stable, particularly with the appearance of new variants and viruses.
In a recent study, it was found that people who use intuitions instead of thinking about what is true are more likely to believe in false things. According to the study, Americans agreed that COVID-19 was "purposefully created and spread despite the lack of any credible evidence for its intentional development."
The study identified two factors that can contribute to the formation of false beliefs when people are misinformed. The lack of analytical thinking has also been mentioned as a cognitive driver, such as intuitive thinking.
Additional socio-affective drivers have been added to the study, such as source cues and emotional information.
By comparing the study's findings to our own work in Misbar, it is clear that the emotional content of information shared aids in the rapid and viral spread of emotionally appealing content, which can result in increased persuasion.
Professor Jan-Willem Van Prooijen stated in a report that in May 2020, 26 percent of Canadian citizens and 39 percent of Australian citizens believed the COVID-19 virus was a bioweapon engineered in a lab.
Professor Van Prooijen has confirmed that one of the factors of conspiracy thinking is the existence of a societal group that a perceiver deeply distrusts. He stated that such a group serves as a "convenient scapegoat to enable an easy way to make sense of a societal crisis such as a pandemic or a terrorist attack."
We have already published a blog post about the infodemic of conspiracy theories in early 2020, as well as several reports debunking misinformation about the rise in conspiracy thinking related to the pandemic.
To summarize, the causes of false beliefs are numerous. They include cognitive factors, such as the use of intuitive thinking, as well as social and affective factors, such as the influence of mood on credulity. We can also say that conspiracy thinking is one of the relevant factors in the creation and spread of fake news, with the mechanism of finding a "scapegoat" to make things understandable and simple for both the "story maker" and the "receiver."
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