“Who is gullible to political disinformation?” : predicting susceptibility of university students to fake news

ABSTRACT

This study determined the items that could predict university students’ susceptibility to disinformation (e.g., fake news). Toward this goal, randomly-selected students from the four private universities in Manila answered a content-validated and pilot-tested survey form. Through binary logistic regression analysis, it was found that frequent visits to Instagram, sharing a political post of a friend, and liking a post of a political party could increase the susceptibility of students to fake news. On the other hand, sharing the post of a political party, and seeking the opinion of experts could decrease the susceptibility of students to fake news. Of these items, liking a post with a similar opinion of a political party – a confirmation bias – had the highest contribution to fake news susceptibility of students. It is worth noting that the most reliable source of information, i.e. the library, is the least utilized fact-checking resource. It can be concluded that technological, internal, and external factors contribute either positively or negatively to the susceptibility of students to fake news. Implications to combat fake news are offered.

KEYWORDS:

• Confirmation bias
• disinformation
• ICT
• social media
• trust

Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to the participants of the study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicting interest in this study.

Additional information

Funding

This study is partially funded by the affiliations of the authors.

Notes on contributors

Rex P. Bringula

Rex P. Bringula is a professor at the University of the East (UE) College of Computer Studies and Systems. His publications are in computer science/IT education, mobile learning, intelligent tutoring systems, Internet studies, cyber-behavior, e-commerce, web usability, and environmental issues.

Annaliza E. Catacutan-Bangit

Annaliza E. Catacutan-Bangit is an Information Technology Faculty  under the College of Computing and Information Technologies at National University, Manila. Her research interests are in the field of social sciences, education technology, disaster risk and management, and health information systems.

Manuel B. Garcia

Manuel B. Garcia is a licensed professional teacher and a professor of information technology at FEU Institute of Technology, Philippines. His research interests include topics that, individually or collectively, cover the disciplines of education and information technology.

John Paul S. Gonzales

John Paul S. Gonzales is a management employee of the University of the East holding the position of Program Assistant at the Office of Curriculum Development and Instruction. His research interests are in the field of social sciences and educational technology.

Arlene Mae C. Valderama

Arlene Mae C. Valderama is a full time faculty at Jose Rizal University since 2005. She was the Chairperson of the IT Department from 2006 to 2015. As an IT educator, she maintains her craft with training attendances, speakerships, and participation in research paper presentations on e-learning, LMS, and lean based systems.