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Abstract
Proceeding from the insights of truth-default theory, the article examines the extent by which the human psyches default assumption of truth contributes to our susceptibility to believe in false online content. This study attempts to trace the cognitive roots of peoples online susceptibility to disinformation. The article also investigates the role of fact-checking behavior and belief perseverance to being vulnerable to online disinformation. Data gathered were from 234 survey respondents and 16 participants from two sets of focus group discussion (FGD). All subjects were college students from Manila, Philippines. Regression analysis shows that our assumption of truthfulness and fact-checking behavior are statistically significant predictors of (susceptibility) Facebook disinformation experiences. Among others, the study interestingly found out too that susceptibility to online disinformation is strong among Facebook users when these false online contents are favorable to them. The article wishes to contribute to the understanding of the susceptibility of the human mind to different forms of falsehood proliferating online.
Keywords: Truth-default theory, assumption of truthfulness, fact-checking behavior, belief perseverance, susceptibility to online disinformation
The proliferation of false information on the internet negatively influences how people see other online contents (Bradshaw & Howard, 2018; Brandtzaeg & Følstad, 2017; Krishna Kumar & Geethakumari, 2014). While truthfulness is valued in societies, online content creators seem to differ by deliberately producing false information aimed at manipulating online readers or consumers. The literature assigns the term disinformation to suit such behavior. Disinformation refers to the act of deceiving people using, among others, fake web entries, an act which is a conscious effort to mislead (Fallis, 2014). Disinformation is a common tactic in the online world to solicit the desired reactions from a targeted audience. The tactic is observed during the election period (Alaphilippe, Ceccarelli, Charlet, & Mycielski, 2018; Bradshaw & Howard, 2018), tense political issues (Krug, 2017; Mejias & Vokuev, 2017) and consumer-related forum (Guilbeault, 2018; Vaque, 2018).
The fact that people can challenge, verify, or cross-check whatever information appears online is what makes disinformation a little less successful at face value (Graves, 2017). Nonetheless, the article intends to map out what particular set of tendencies or behaviors is shaping our susceptibility to disinformation. For those who fight fake online contents, it is not only about being able to...