A ciência cognitiva e a crença em fake news: um estudo exploratório

Autores

  • João Pedro Baptista Departamento de Comunicação, Filosofia e Política, Universidade da Beira Interior (UBI), Covilhã, Portugal
  • Elisete Correia Centro de Matemática Computacional e Estocástica (CEMAT), Dep. de Matemática, IST-UL, Lisboa, Portugal
  • Anabela Gradim Departamento de Comunicação, Filosofia e Política, Universidade da Beira Interior (UBI), Covilhã, Portugal
  • Valeriano Piñeiro-Naval Observatorio de los Contenidos Audiovisuales, Universidade de Salamanca, Salamanca, Espanha

Palavras-chave:

fake news, cognição, bullshits, desinformação, crença

Resumo

A maneira como processamos informação pode determinar a capacidade de discernir fake news de notícias. Este estudo pretende compreender como os aspetos psicológicos e cognitivos estão relacionados com o consumo e divulgação de fake news. Aplicamos um inquérito a 712 participantes, os quais classificaram a credibilidade de um conjunto de títulos de fake news e notícias. Posteriormente, para traçar um perfil psicológico, avaliamos a habilidade cognitiva, o grau de reivindicar conhecimento exagerado e a recetividade a tretas ou bullshits dos participantes. Verificamos que o pensamento reflexivo pode combater o consumo e a disseminação de fake news. A crença em fake news está associada com a intuição, a reclamação de conhecimento excessivo e a aceitação de tretas. As pessoas mais interessadas por notícias de política são menos propensas a acreditar em fake news e em tretas. Assim, o conhecimento político e o raciocínio reflexivo podem ser elementos cruciais para resistir à desinformação política.

Biografia Autor

João Pedro Baptista, Departamento de Comunicação, Filosofia e Política, Universidade da Beira Interior (UBI), Covilhã, Portugal

João Pedro Baptista é um jornalista e investigador da unidade de Investigação Labcom – Comunicação e Artes, do Departamento de Comunicação, Filosofia e Política da Universidade da Beira Interior, em Portugal. É mestre em Ciências da Comunicação: Comunicação Pública, Política e Intercultural pela Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro e, atualmente, bolseiro de Doutoramento em Ciências da Comunicação, pela Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), na Universidade da Beira Interior. Os interesses da sua investigação prendem-se com a crescente problemática das fake news e da desinformação online, bem como com o estudo da situação da dicotomia política Esquerda-Direita enquadrada com o estudo da comunicação político-partidária.

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2021-07-23