Two complementary processes are at the heart of these effects. First,
conﬁrmation bias: Individuals tend to seek out and interpret new information in
ways that validate their preexisting views. Along these lines, individuals also tend
to perceive congenial information as more credible or persuasive than opposing
evidence (Guess and Coppock 2018; Khanna and Sood 2018). Second,
disconﬁrmation bias: When exposed to ideologically dissonant information,
to mind opposing arguments (counterarguing).4 In
individuals will call
combination, these two processes can cultivate worldview backﬁre effects; when
individuals are confronted with a correction that contradicts their past beliefs, they
will act to both discount the correction and bolster their prior views.
Social_Media_and_Democracy