Belief Echoes: The Persistent Effects of Corrected Misinformation

2015/11/19 by Emily Thorson · 15 citations
Social Sciences · #Media Influence and Politics #Misinformation and Its Impacts #Social Media and Politics

paper · doi:10.1080/10584609.2015.1102187

openalex publication_date 2015/11/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Across three separate experiments, I find that exposure to negative political information continues to shape attitudes even after the information has been effectively discredited. I call these effects “belief echoes.” Results suggest that belief echoes can be created through an automatic or deliberative process. Belief echoes occur even when the misinformation is corrected immediately, the “gold standard” of journalistic fact-checking. The existence of belief echoes raises ethical concerns about journalists’ and fact-checking organizations’ efforts to publicly correct false claims.

Citations

• When Corrections Fail: The Persistence of Political Misperceptions
• Misinformation and the Currency of Democratic Citizenship

Cited by

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• Filter Bubbles, Echo Chambers, and Fake News: How Social Media Conditions Individuals to Be Less Critical of Political Misinformation
• Epistemic Vulnerability: Theory and Measurement at the System Level
• Continued memory for misinformation, continued trust in the sources that spread it: The effects of language and self-correction
• Searching for the backfire effect: Measurement and design considerations.
• Deepfakes as a Democratic Threat: Experimental Evidence Shows Noxious Effects That Are Reducible Through Journalistic Fact Checks
• The Nature and Origins of Misperceptions: Understanding False and Unsupported Beliefs About Politics
• How News Coverage of Misinformation Shapes Perceptions and Trust
• Why Corrections (Partly) Fail: Higher-Order Inferences and the Stickiness of Misinformation
• Time is the fire in which message effects burn: Decay and sustenance of correction effects over time
• Who Believes Misinformation That Is Aligned with Dominant Narratives in Mainstream Media?
• Public Ignorance or Elitist Jargon? Reconsidering Americans’ Overestimates of Government Waste and Foreign Aid
• Understanding Conspiracy Theories
• Mutual Hyperlinking Among Misinformation Peddlers
• Misinformation exposure per se may not trigger cynicism, but perceived prevalence of misinformation and hostile information does

Related

• Debunking Three Myths About Misinformation
• Continued memory for misinformation, continued trust in the sources that spread it: The effects of language and self-correction
• Exposure to Higher Rates of False News Erodes Media Trust and Fuels Overconfidence
• Partisans are more likely to entrench their beliefs in misinformation when political outgroup members correct claims
• Misinformation: Current directions and new insights.