Overview

Why are people inclined to believe misinformation? This wide-ranging and comprehensive book shines a light on how false beliefs take root and spread, exploring the cognitive, emotional, and social factors that make us all susceptible to misinformation. Challenging approaches that focus solely on education and media literacy, Matthew Facciani emphasizes the important role identities and social ties have in the complex interplay of forces that lead people to believe things that are not true. Susceptibility to misinformation is largely shaped by social dynamics. The pressure to affirm one's personal and group identities can leave individuals vulnerable to false beliefs. Facciani examines both offline and online connections, highlighting how social media, news media, and personal networks can promote and amplify false claims. To bring social-scientific findings to life, he shares the stories of people who fell for misinformation, with contemporary examples including the COVID-19 pandemic and antivaccine movement. Facciani examines the effectiveness of various approaches to combating misinformation, underscoring the importance of understanding the psychological and sociological mechanisms behind its spread. He provides actionable recommendations for reducing the influence of misinformation at all levels, from having productive conversations with friends and family to rebuilding trust in institutions. Distilling the latest research accessibly and featuring compelling case studies, Misguided equips readers with practical strategies to counteract false beliefs.

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9780231205047

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Reviews

In this timely and important book, Facciani takes the reader on a fascinating journey into the world of dangerous misinformation and how to best counter it at scale. If you want to help fight misinformation, read this book! -- Sander van der Linden, author of <i>Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity</i> Facciani approaches the misinformation problem from a fresh perspective as a social scientist, explaining how our social networks and our political identities work against us to blind us to false claims. Showing how to combat misinformation through education and media literacy, he paves a path toward building resilience to one of society’s most urgent threats. -- Barbara McQuade, author of <i>Attack from Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America</i> An essential guide to understanding the bewildering origins of misinformation—including pseudoscience about vaccines—with helpful tools for combating the viral spread of lies. -- Seema Yasmin, author of <i>What the Fact? Finding the Truth in All the Noise</i>

Author Information

Matthew Facciani is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Notre Dame. He is an interdisciplinary social scientist with a background in neuroscience and psychology and a PhD in sociology.

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