Undermining the Corrective Effects of Media-Based Political Fact Checking? The Role of Contextual Cues and Naïve Theory

Media‐based fact checking contributes to more accurate political knowledge, but its corrective effects are limited. We argue that biographical information included in a corrective message, which is often unrelated to the inaccurate claim itself, can activate misperception‐congruent naïve theories, i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of communication 2013-08, Vol.63 (4), p.617-637
Main Authors: Garrett, R. Kelly, Nisbet, Erik C., Lynch, Emily K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communication
Cues
Culture
Error correction models
Experiments
Forecasts
Information
Internet
Islam
Knowledge
New York
Objectivity
Prediction
Resistance
September 11th 2001
Social surveys
Sociology
Sociology of communication and mass media. Sociolinguistics
Sociology of knowledge and sociology of culture
Terrorism
Threats
Trust
U.S.A
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Summary:Media‐based fact checking contributes to more accurate political knowledge, but its corrective effects are limited. We argue that biographical information included in a corrective message, which is often unrelated to the inaccurate claim itself, can activate misperception‐congruent naïve theories, increasing confidence in a misperception's plausibility and inducing skepticism toward denials. Resistance to corrections occurs regardless of initial belief accuracy, but the effect is strongest among those who find the contextual information objectionable or threatening. We test these claims using an online survey‐embedded experiment (N = 750) conducted in the wake of the controversy over the proposed Islamic cultural center in New York City near the site of the 9/11 attacks, and find support for our predictions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
ISSN:0021-9916
1460-2466
DOI:10.1111/jcom.12038