【令和3年度　一般公募プロジェクト】The cognitive and behavioral consequences of disinformation

研究課題　　　　　　The cognitive and behavioral consequences of disinformation

研究代表者　　　　　Strohminger Nina Suzanne　Department of Legal Studies and Business Ethics The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania　Assistant Professor

本センター担当教員　内田由紀子　京都大学こころの未来研究センター　教授
　　　　　　　　　　阿部修士　京都大学こころの未来研究センター　准教授

Hannah Arendt wrote that totalitarian leaders control citizens by creating an incomprehensible informational landscape where “everything was possible and nothing was true.” This project investigates the cognitive and behavioral consequences of exposure to disinformation, including endorsement of relativism, conspiracy theories, and authoritarianism.

The purpose of this research is to examine an underappreciated consequence of propaganda: how does exposure to disinformation impact well-being, broadly construed? I am interested in not only traditional measures of well-being (such as mood and life satisfaction) but also healthy patterns of thought, and functional social relations.

The insidious impact of propaganda likely goes beyond belief in the falsehoods themselves. When the epistemic norms of society disintegrate, this may lead to a sense of alienation from the community (what Emile Durkheim termed anomie). In a similar vein, Arendt theorized that disinformation breeds both cynicism and guillibility, thereby serving as a tool of social control. Accordingly, I expect to find that when people are exposed to disinformation, this breeds a disorientation that disrupts ordinary reasoning processing, and a sense of security and predictability in the world. This may increase the appeal of authoritarianism, conspiracy theories, and scientific and moral relativism.