The cognitive and behavioral consequences of disinformation

Research Topic
The cognitive and behavioral consequences of disinformation

Lead Researcher
Strohminger, Nina Suzanne, Assistant Professor, Department of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania

Host Researchers
Yukiko Uchida, Professor, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University

Nobuhito Abe, Associate Professor, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University

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.

2021/05/31