It’s a common belief that anger or fear clouds judgment and makes people more likely to believe fake news. But a new study shows that emotions themselves do not increase susceptibility to misinformation. Still, emotions play a key role in how people assess the truthfulness of news, said lead author Hannah Metzler in an interview with APA.
Emotions have long been understood in emotion research as a crucial component of intelligent human behavior, including from an evolutionary perspective. However, in the newer field of misinformation research, the opposite belief is still widespread, explained Metzler, a neuroscientist and psychologist at the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) in Vienna.
Anger Alone Doesn’t Make People Gullible
Metzler and her team explored the connection between emotions and belief in fake news in a study published in the journal Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications. The study involved 422 participants, who were asked to report their mood over the previous days, their emotions after reading a news item, and their assessment of its truthfulness. The survey was conducted in November 2021, during the early phase of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, and featured headlines and images about the pandemic and vaccines.
The result: The participants’ prior mood had no impact on whether they could identify fake news. Contrary to the belief that emotions lead to irrationality, participants who reacted angrily to misinformation were actually more likely to recognize it as such.
Social Identity Often Trumps Truth
“Our sample had a higher proportion of highly educated, politically left-leaning individuals,” noted Metzler. Previous research has shown that a small radical minority is responsible for most fake news sharing on social media. Since such individuals weren’t represented in the sample, their motivations couldn’t be studied. Still, a variety of political views were present, and emotional reactions occurred across the spectrum.
Anger, for example, often arose when new information conflicted with someone’s worldview. “That’s a key takeaway: Social factors—such as what people in your community or political party believe—are often more important than the actual truth,” Metzler said.
Emotions help direct attention to what matters to us, whether it’s potential danger, social approval, or group belonging. For most of human history, survival depended on being part of a group. That’s why the question of what to believe or say to remain part of a group is deeply rooted in us, Metzler explained.
A Bit of Reassurance and Big Challenges Ahead
“We naturally believe a lot of nonsense—people once thought the Earth was flat and stars were gods,” said Metzler. The fact that many people today believe in human-caused climate change and the effectiveness of vaccines shows historically high levels of trust in science and institutions. In this view, fake news is a symptom—not the cause—of growing distrust, especially post-COVID.
Metzler doesn’t believe panic is helpful. Alarmist fake news rarely sways most people. One antidote, she says, could be greater representation of diverse backgrounds in institutions to rebuild trust. Another key factor is economic stability. People who are financially secure and don’t feel like they’re losing status are less likely to seek out radical groups or conspiracy narratives.
Metzler continues to research the emotional dynamics of misinformation and is currently working on interventions to help steer people away from false beliefs by addressing the social contexts in which they arise.
