Individual differences in detecting and sharing misinformation: Positive schizotypy, conspiracy beliefs, and autism

Abstract

Misinformation is widespread, but only a minority of social media users actively share it. This paper considers whether three aspects of individual differences - positive schizotypy, conspiracy beliefs, and autism - differentiate those who believe in and share misinformation, from those who do not. Study 1 (N = 451) considered the effects of these variables on veracity discernment (i.e., the ability to differentiate true and false information). Higher levels of positive schizotypy and conspiracy beliefs were independently associated with poorer veracity discernment. Secondary analyses suggested that the effect of positive schizotypy might operate through reliance on intuitive rather than reflective thought, while the effect of conspiracy beliefs might arise from higher levels of gullibility. While autism did not generally affect veracity discernment, moderation analysis suggested that it improved veracity discernment among individuals high in positive schizotypy. Paradoxically however, autistic individuals were more likely to report having shared false political information in the past. Study 2 (N = 676) compared data from a new sample of autistic individuals with a sample from previous research. Again, autistic individuals were more likely to report having shared false political information, but did not differ in performance on a veracity discernment task.