Sharing – A new study has found being angry increases your vulnerability to misinformation
I think we’ve watched this play out in real life in the US recently:
“The researchers also found that participants in the anger condition tended to be more confident in the accuracy of their memories. But among those participants, increased confidence was associated with decreased accuracy. Among those in the neutral condition, in contrast, increased confidence was associated with increased accuracy.”
Really, there are two things you can do to fight falling for misinformation. You could try to never be angry, but I don’t think that’s realistic. There are things to be angry about, rightfully. We can’t go through live just not feeling anything.
The thing I think we can do, and the thing I work hard at myself, is staying humble. Never assume you “know” everything, that you never make mistakes, that there is nothing more for you to learn. That’s how you fight misinformation, and it’s also really helpful when it comes to fighting negative thoughts, depression, anxiety, etc.
It’s a little more difficult to completely give in to negativity when you know that there’s a lot you don’t know, and avoid seeing everything in black and white.
Case in point: “I will never get better and be healed”
You don’t know that. No one knows that. It’s unknowable. Accept that, and move forward.
