Political Rumors: Why We Accept Misinformation and How to Fight It

by Adam J. Berinsky

Overview

Why debunked political rumors persist and how to combat them

Political rumors and misinformation pollute the political landscape. This is not a recent phenomenon; before the currently rampant and unfounded rumors about a stolen election and vote-rigging, there were other rumors that continued to spread even after they were thoroughly debunked, including doubts about 9/11 (an “inside job”) and the furor over President Obama’s birthplace and birth certificate. If misinformation crowds out the truth, how can Americans communicate with one another about important issues? In this book, Adam Berinsky examines why political rumors exist and persist despite their unsubstantiated and refuted claims, who is most likely to believe them, and how to combat them.

Drawing on original survey and experimental data, Berinsky shows that a tendency toward conspiratorial thinking and vehement partisan attachment fuel belief in rumors. Yet the reach of rumors is wide, and Berinsky argues that in fighting misinformation, it is as important to target the undecided and the uncertain as it is the true believers. We’re all vulnerable to misinformation, and public skepticism about the veracity of political facts is damaging to democracy. Moreover, in a world where most people simply don’t pay attention to politics, political leaders are often guilty of disseminating false information—and failing to correct it when it is proven wrong. Berinsky suggests that we should focus on the messenger as much as the message of rumors. Just as important as how misinformation is debunked is who does the debunking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691158389
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	08/15/2023
Series:	Princeton Studies in Political Behavior , #18
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	377,774
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Adam J. Berinsky is the Mitsui Professor of Political Science at MIT and the founding director of the MIT Political Experiments Research Lab. A specialist in the fields of political behavior and public opinion, he is the author of Silent Voices: Public Opinion and Political Participation in America (Princeton) and In Time of War: Understanding American Public Opinion from World War II to Iraq.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Misinformation is perhaps the major societal challenge of our time. This book reflects more than a decade of thought and study by one of the world’s preeminent experts on the topic. It offers a profound perspective on why misperceptions endure and what steps should (and should not) be used to address the problem. It is requisite reading for anyone who hopes to understand and address what has become a defining challenge of the twenty-first century.”—James N. Druckman, Northwestern University

“This is a comprehensive exploration of political rumors: who believes them, how they spread, and the toolkit of corrective strategies that scholars and practitioners must consider if they want to confront this problem. Importantly, Berinsky directs our attention to the people who are not yet ‘true believers’ (because they are uncertain about rumors) and the production side of misinformation. The end result is a book that is a conceptual and empirical tour de force.”—Jennifer Jerit, Dartmouth College

“Berinsky’s Political Rumors brings together a decade's worth of research to offer the most comprehensive treatment to date of the prevalence of beliefs in false and unsupported claims, the reasons that people are vulnerable to them, and the challenges we face in trying to counter them. A crucially important examination of an issue of vital public concern.”—Brendan Nyhan, Dartmouth College

“Adam Berinsky has been studying misinformation and rumors longer than anyone, well before the contemporary panic about these topics. This book represents more than a decade of painstaking work, but it could not come at a better time. Anyone who cares about the pervasiveness of lies in contemporary political discourse will learn valuable lessons from Berinsky’s careful research.”—Nathaniel Persily, Stanford Law School

“This fascinating book goes deep into the social science behind rumors in the political realm. Through a series of case studies highlighting potent stories that persist despite debunking efforts, Berinsky deftly ensures that the reader comes away with a better understanding of how rumors can spread rapidly and influence public opinion. This fresh perspective on the intersection of politics and human communication will appeal to anyone interested in how misleading ideas spread in our interconnected world, and the profound consequences this can have.”—Renee DiResta, Stanford University

Editorial Reviews

"A thought-provoking journey through the intricate world of political rumors. . . . Invaluable for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of both misinformation and the complex scholarly conversation surrounding the topic."

Choice

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year

From the Publisher

07/21/2023

Berinsky's (political science, MIT; In Time of War) book encapsulates years of research on political rumor, which he defines as "an unsupported claim, often with conspiratorial edge." The life cycle of a rumor is visually explained with a concentric image that includes creators at the center, expanding out to believers, the uncertain, and disbelievers. The book indicates that the creation of political rumors runs along partisan lines, with Republicans reportedly creating more rumors than Democrats. The book's data is sound, and Berinsky's dissertation-style narrative abounds with charts and graphs that extrapolate the evidence, but the examples are more than a decade old: Obama's birth certificate, the Affordable Care Act, weapons of mass destruction, and John Kerry's war service record, for example. Even the chapters on Trump focus on information collected before the 2016 primary. VERDICT The cursory mentions of COVID and social media as a purveyor of misinformation aren't enough to keep this text relevant. Only for those interested in the archaeological roots of misinformation.—Tina Panik

Library Journal

2023-05-01
A quantitative assessment of political rumors in the U.S. and proposals to manage them.

Berinsky, founding director of the MIT Political Experiments Research Lab, delves into the transmission of and widespread belief in political claims that are both unsupported and tinged with “a conspiratorial edge.” QAnon conspiracies, Trump’s mantra of a stolen presidential election, and the claim that Obama’s health policy includes “death panels” are only the most pernicious. For centuries, political discourse has entailed bending, breaking, and suppressing the truth in order to shape perceptions and attract constituents. Indeed, political rumors are “nothing new in the American experience.” Drawing on public opinion surveys, Berinsky finds that rumors are “the toxic marriage of political beliefs and conspiratorial orientation.” They thrive on repetition and ripple outward from creators to believers to the uncertain and to disbelievers. Though both Republicans and Democrats trade in rumors, “more rumors are in circulation on the right than there are on the left,” and Republicans are less assertive in their denials. Although people who are more politically engaged and informed are “more likely to reject rumors of all partisan stripes,” the effects of fact-checking, a widely adopted prescription, are limited and temporary. “Lies, false narratives, and ‘alternative facts’ can...taint faith in the political system,” Berinsky warns, and he proposes a medley of responses, of mixed quality. At the top of his list is mobilizing “the power of unlikely sources”—i.e., individuals who might be damaged by speaking against the rumor. He also suggests regulating the information ecosystem (particularly online media), pressuring political elites who fail to denounce rumors, and inoculating the public through education in critical thinking skills. His conclusion: “It may be easier to make a rumor stronger than it is to make [it] go away.”

A carefully considered, largely pessimistic dive into the academic research on toxic political misinformation.

Kirkus Reviews