| Popis: |
The rapid spread of disinformation in social networks poses a threat to democracy. Initial studies show a relation between right-wing populist attitudes and willingness to share disinformation. However, it is unclear to what extent this is due to the fact that much disinformation contains right-wing populist themes and communication elements. Further, knowledge about motives for sharing disinformation is also limited. It is assumed that people want to share true information but are not always able to recognize disinformation. However, people also share information that they find untrustworthy, pursuing other goals. Following social identity theory, it can be assumed that people share disinformation to increase the reputation of their own group and derogate their outgroup. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of right-wing populist communication elements on the likelihood of sharing disinformation as well as underlying motives of sharing disinformation. Further, the influence of right-wing populist attitudes on these relationships is investigated. Therefore, in an online survey-experiment participants rate the credibility and likelihood of sharing of two disinformation items, presented in the form of a Facebook post. This knowledge is crucial to develop appropriate measures, as fact-checking cues may be ineffective if the truth content is irrelevant to the decision to disseminate disinformation. |
