Aging in an Infodemic: The Role of Analytical Reasoning, Affect, and News Consumption Frequency on News Veracity Detection

Increasing misinformation spread poses a threat to older adults but there is little research on older adults within the fake news literature. Embedded in the Changes in Integration for Social Decisions in Aging (CISDA) model, this study examined the role of (a) analytical reasoning; (b) affect; (c) news consumption frequency, and their interplay with (d) news content on news veracity detection in aging. Conducted during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the present study asked participants to view and evaluate COVID or non-COVID (i.e., everyday) news articles, followed by measures of analytical reasoning, affect, and news consumption frequency. News veracity detection was comparable between young and older adults. Additionally, fake news detection for non-COVID news was predicted by individual differences in analytic reasoning for both age groups. However, chronological age effects in fake news detection emerged within the older adult sample and interacted with the CISDA-derived components of analytical reasoning, affect, and news consumption frequency by news content. Collectively, these findings suggest that age-related vulnerabilities to deceptive news are only apparent in very old age. Our findings advance understanding of psychological mechanisms in news veracity detection in aging. Public Significance Statement The circulation of false news has dramatically increased in the last decade and was further exacerbated during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, causing an infodemic (i.e., overabundance of information involving deliberate attempts to disseminate inaccurate information). Conducted during the early COVID-19 pandemic, this study demonstrates that analytical reasoning, affect, and news consumption frequency interact with news content to determine fake news detection accuracy, particularly in very late adulthood. These findings may inform effective interventions toward reducing misinformation spread in aging.

Automated summary

Increasing misinformation spread poses a threat to older adults, but there is limited research on older adults and fake news. This study found that fake news detection was comparable between young and older adults, and individual differences in analytic reasoning predicted fake news detection for both age groups. However, chronological age effects and their interaction with components such as analytical reasoning, affect, and news consumption frequency emerged within the older adult sample. These findings enhance our understanding of the psychological mechanisms involved in news veracity detection in aging.