WHAT MAKES PEOPLE BELIEVE "FAKE NEWS"?

• Position: YOUR LIFE

People who tend to trust their intuition or are certain that the "facts" they hear are politically biased are more likely to stand behind inaccurate beliefs, while those who rely on concrete evidence to form their opinions are less likely to have misperceptions about high-profile scientific and political issues, suggests a study in the journal PLOS ONE.

"Scientific and political misperceptions are dangerously common in the U.S. today," says lead researcher Kelly Garrett. "The willingness of large minorities of Americans to embrace falsehoods and conspiracy theories poses a threat to society's ability to make well-informed decisions about pressing matters.

"A lot of attention is paid to our political motivations and, while political bias is a reality, we shouldn't lose track of the fact that people have other kinds of biases, too."

Garrett and coauthor Brian Weeks evaluated survey respondents' tendency to agree with seven well-known conspiracy theories. More than 45% say they do not buy that Pres. John F. Kennedy was murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald alone; 33% agreed that the U.S. government was behind the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.; and 32% say Princess...