ERIC Number: EJ1333965
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Feb
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Framing Fake News: Asymmetric Attribute-Framing Bias for Favorable and Unfavorable Outcomes
Kreiner, Hamutal; Gamliel, Eyal
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v48 n2 p187-198 Feb 2022
Attribute-framing bias (AFB) refers to addressees' bias in evaluating positively framed objects (80% success) more favorably than negatively framed ones (20% failure), although they are logically equivalent. The novelty of the current study is in examining conditions in which AFB occurs or does not occur. Typically, AFB is examined for favorable outcomes (e.g., 80% success / 20% failure); the current study extended the examination to unfavorable outcomes (e.g., 80% failure / 20% success). According to fuzzy-trace theory, information is encoded both as a detailed verbatim representation and as a fuzzy gist representation, and AFB is elicited by the vague gist representations that maintain either the positive or the negative valence of the message. The current study offers a novel insight into the relationship between gist and verbatim representations in AFB by examining how it is moderated by the favorability of the outcomes. In three experiments, we focused on the perceived reliability of news items. As fake news has become an issue of major concern, some news media publish truthfulness evaluations; however, the framing of such evaluations may bias the perceived reliability of news. Hence, we examined to what extent the favorability of the outcomes moderated AFB in perceived news reliability. The results showed that attribute framing biased the perceived reliability of news when truthfulness outcomes were favorable (80% true / 20% fake) but not when outcomes were unfavorable (20% true / 80% fake). We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings to the understanding of AFB and their practical implications concerning the perceived reliability of news.
Descriptors: Deception, News Reporting, Social Bias, Ethics, Reliability, Evaluation Methods, Attribution Theory, Decision Making, Undergraduate Students, Student Attitudes, Media Literacy, Age Differences, Gender Differences, Likert Scales, Vignettes, Foreign Countries, Cross Cultural Studies, Web Sites, Adults
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Israel; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A