Meta-perception and misinformation

Abstract

Research on political misperceptions is flourishing across disciplines. Literature on misinformation susceptibility and political group meta-perceptions have arisen independently, both seeking to understand how inaccurate social beliefs of the first and second order respectively contribute to political polarization. Here we review these literatures and argue for greater integration. We highlight four domains where these two literatures intersect: how inaccurate group meta-perceptions may increase misinformation susceptibility, how misinformation may itself convey inaccurate second-order information, how second-order perceptions of misinformation belief may increase misinformation susceptibility, and how reputational concerns may affect misinformation engagement. Our hope is to illuminate fruitful avenues of future research and inspire scholars of political misperceptions to pursue unified theoretical models of how misperceptions drive negative political outcomes.

Keywords: Disinformation; Meta-perception; Misinformation; Misperception; Second order beliefs.