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Believing misinformation is a “win” for some people, even when proven false (arstechnica.com)

submitted 5 months ago by Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone to c/science@mander.xyz

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The strongest predictor of whether someone believed in COVID-19-related misinformation and risks related to the vaccine was whether they viewed COVID-19 prevention efforts in terms of symbolic strength and weakness. In other words, this group focused on whether an action would make them appear to fend off or “give in” to untoward influence.

[…]

Our findings highlight the limits of countering misinformation directly, because for some people, literal truth is not the point.

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[–] mistermodal@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 months ago

In order to face this problem we need to move beyond individualistic causes like "people are right wing because they are pathetic incels". I got the same results from trying to reason with people. These are serious psyops programs, and we need to remember that most people don't listen to each other but whatever form of "television" makes them feel good. People can respond to real hardship by becoming selfish and horrible, or they can respond to having everything and never facing their own flaws by seeking out sadism for thrills, there are so many ways people's minds can spoil. The structure of the belief system that pulls them in is what needs to be confronted, not their individual pathologies.