Misinformation belief can lead people to believe everything from absurd claims, like lemon juice can turn a person invisible, to far more serious falsehoods that cause them to vote under false pretenses for candidates and measures they otherwise would not support. In partisan contexts, when misinformation about the other party’s intentions, such as supposed hatred, unwillingness to cooperate, or support for violence, is left uncorrected, individuals themselves adopt more hostile intentions toward the other party.

I explore various drivers of misinformation belief, such as motivated reasoning, selective exposure, and agenda setting.

Partisan identification, and the animus it can generate toward the other party, can foster tribalistic thinking that crowds out critical thought and deliberation in favor of viewing one’s own party as good and the other as bad. This dynamic can produce troubling consequences, including cherry-picking scientific findings to support one’s views, undermining democratic norms when it benefits one’s party, and making professional decisions, such as hiring, based on partisan identity rather than qualifications.

I examine psychological, cognitive, and media-based mechanisms that contribute to partisan identification, including self-esteem maintenance, the need for cognitive closure, and disagreement in the media.