Fact-Checking News Use and Political Misperception: Testing the Cognitive Process of Elaboration on Political Knowledge

Abstract

Fact-checking can play an essential role in reducing political misperceptions. However, how effective it is in doing so has yet to be understood. This study uses data from a two-wave panel survey administered during the 2022 Korean presidential election (Wave 1: N = 1175, Wave 2: N = 948) to examine the role of fact-checking news in reducing political misperceptions in the sociopolitical context of South Korea. Based on the Orientation-Stimulus-Reasoning-Orientation-Response model, we propose a reasoning process following fact-checking news use that involves cognitive elaboration and political discussion and examine the mediating effects of these processes in the relationship between the use of fact-checking news and individuals’ misperceptions. The findings suggest that cognitive elaboration and political discussion play significant roles in influencing the development of citizens’ political knowledge. Fact-checking reduces political misperceptions indirectly through elaboration, political discussion, and political knowledge. Implications of the findings for the effectiveness of fact-checking news are discussed.