Search

Many assume that if citizens were more inclined to moralize the values of evidence-based and logical thinking, they would be less likely to share politically hostile, conspiratorial, and false claims on social media. In contrast, on the basis of theories of status seeking and persuasion, we argue that moralization of rationality may actually stimulate the spread of hostile partisan news online, including fabricated claims. Across three large surveys (N = 4800) run on U.S. respondents (one exploratory and two pre-registered), we provide empirical evidence for this prediction and demonstrate that the moralization of rationality can be a form of moral grandstanding by status seekers inclined to spread hostile (mis)information to reach partisan goals. In contrast to such grandstanding with respect to rationality, our studies find robust evidence that intellectual humility – that is, the awareness that intuitions are fallible and that trusting others is often desirable – may protect people from both sharing and believing hostile and false political news online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partisanship, polarization, and platforms are foundational to how people perceive contentious issues. Using a probability sample (n = 825), we examine these factors in tandem across four political claims concerning US presidential elections and the COVID-19 pandemic. We find Democrats and Republicans differ in their belief in true and false claims, with each party believing more in pro-attitudinal claims than in counter-attitudinal claims. These results are especially pronounced for affectively polarized partisans. We also find interactions between partisanship and platform use where Republicans who use Google or Twitter are more likely to believe in false claims about COVID-19 than Republicans who do not use these platforms. Our findings highlight that Americans' beliefs in political claims are associated with their political identity through both partisanship and polarization, and the use of search and social platforms appears critical to these relationships. These findings have implications for understanding why realities are malleable to voter preferences in liberal democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the Brazilian media covered false and misleading claims made by President Jair Bolsonaro in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. To do so, we extracted titles from 111 news articles connected to twenty-one disinformation episodes. The texts were published by six news organizations, and we classified them into three categories using content analysis: contextualization, correction, and reproduction. Among our findings, we have discovered that 60.36% of the content reproduced the president's discourse without acknowledging it was a lie or an error, while 26.13% presented elements of contextualization. Only 13.51% of titles corrected Bolsonaro's false or misleading claims. The results indicate that legacy and digital-native news organizations mostly failed to correct the Brazilian president's errors and lies, evoking questions about ethics and transparency. Consequentially, journalism may increase the noise in an already polluted and high-choice online media environment if such issues are left unaddressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior studies indicate that emotions, particularly high-arousal emotions, may elicit rapid intuitive thinking, thereby decreasing the ability to recognize misinformation. Yet, few studies have distinguished prior affective states from emotional reactions to false news, which could influence belief in falsehoods in different ways. Extending a study by Martel et al. (Cognit Res: Principles Implic 5: 1–20, 2020), we conducted a pre-registered online survey experiment in Austria (N = 422), investigating associations of emotions and discernment of false and real news related to COVID-19. We found no associations of prior affective state with discernment, but observed higher anger and less joy in response to false compared to real news. Exploratory analyses, including automated analyses of open-ended text responses, suggested that anger arose for different reasons in different people depending on their prior beliefs. In our educated and left-leaning sample, higher anger was often related to recognizing the misinformation as such, rather than accepting the false claims. We conclude that studies need to distinguish between prior affective state and emotional response to misinformation and consider individuals' prior beliefs as determinants of emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chat-based large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, detect patterns among words and generate text by predicting a sequence of words. But their predictions are probabilistic, which means LLMs can generate misinformation. Although societies have always grappled with misinformation, LLMs exploit weaknesses in how we monitor our world to determine what is real and what is not. Because LLMs generate vast quantities of information, we now face an unprecedented rush of false claims, crafted and delivered with techniques that encourage people to think those claims are true. Worse still, this information then gets fed back into datasets that are used to train future generations of LLMs. As models send misinformation to each other and return misinformation from each other, it will be harder and harder for us all to determine what is real. Large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, flood the Internet with true and false information, crafted and delivered with techniques that psychological science suggests will encourage people to think that information is true. What's more, as people feed this misinformation back into the Internet, emerging LLMs will adopt it and feed it back in other models. Such a scenario means we could lose access to information that helps us tell what is real from unreal – to do 'reality monitoring.' If that happens, misinformation will be the new foundation we use to plan, to make decisions, and to vote. We will lose trust in our institutions and each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ferienjob program in Germany which was started as an opportunity for students to find work and earn an income during vacations has of late come under criticism and allegations of being justifications for more nefarious endeavors such as human trafficking and labor slavery. In the light of this background, this article examines the factors that facilitated the exploitation of over 1,000 Indonesian and Uzbek students engaged in the Ferienjob scheme arguing about weaknesses in the host and the students' home countries' labor protection systems. Even though there are labor laws in Germany like the Employengesetz which forbids the exploitation of minor employees and the Mindestlohngesetz which ensures at least a guaranteed pay for every employee's work, exploited labor has not died down and students remain to be in low wage and unsafe working conditions due to the contracts that they deal with. The research includes questions regarding the qualitative methodology that reflects both primary data collected through the interviews and secondary data obtained from government documents and legislations. The key study findings include the use of false claims in this particular case to lure in students, the stealing of the student's money via placement fees, and the lack of proper legal care for foreign employees. The article further examines the responses issued by Indonesia and Germany in the court trying to show that it is extremely hard to bring the offending parties to book and to coordinate the protection of labor laws. As a final point the study provides the suggestions of how the preventive measures could be improved including enhanced regulations for recruitment firms, an improvement in the control of international agencies, and improvement of university partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional wisdom suggests that social media, especially when used by authoritarian powers with nefarious aims, leaves citizens of democratic countries vulnerable to psychological influence campaigns. But such concerns overlook predispositions among recipients of false claims to reject (or to endorse) conspiratorial narratives. Analyzing responses from a survey fielded in 19 countries, we find that it is a preexisting conspiracy outlook at the individual level, more so than media diets, which consistently predicts rating Russia's pretenses for the invasion as more accurate. In all countries, individuals who view the world in general with a conspiratorial mindset are more likely to believe war-related disinformation. Receiving news via YouTube, Facebook, or TikTok is also associated with greater belief in Russian narratives justifying the invasion in several countries, but these relationships are weaker compared to those observed for conspiracy thinking. Without downplaying a potential positive role for media interventions, the findings highlight the importance of a deeper understanding of the underlying causes of conspiratorial thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Before 2010, violators of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) could avoid False Claims Act (FCA) liability if claims for items or services borne of their kickback scheme were submitted to federal healthcare programs by a third party. In 2010, as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Congress attempted to close this loophole in the FCA by amending the AKS. Under the amendment's terms, claims submitted to federal healthcare programs for items or services "resulting from" an AKS scheme are false for the purposes of establishing FCA liability, regardless of who submitted the claims. Although the amendment widened the FCA liability net, its language also raised a new question as courts grappled with what "resulting from" requires plaintiffs to prove in AKS-based FCA claims. This Note examines how federal circuit courts have analyzed the amendment's "resulting from" causation standard. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit imposed a relaxed standard that requires plaintiffs to establish a connection that is less stringent than but-for causation, whereas the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Eighth Circuits concluded that a but-for standard is required by the amendment's language. This Note argues that a but-for causation standard, like the one adopted by the Sixth and Eighth Circuits, is the proper standard considering the amendment's plain language. Ultimately, this Note argues a but-for standard is likely to be adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court should the Court grant certiorari on the question of what "resulting from" in the 2010 AKS amendment requires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviewing related literature shows deviation from Searle's felicity conditions has not been given attention. The present paper aims to investigate pragmatic deviation from Searle's (1969) felicity conditions of illocutionary speech acts in the previous president of the US, Donald Trump's political language. A qualitative method is used to gather and examine the data. The instrument consists of three oral documents which are chosen purposefully: (1) Trump's discourse to a group of his supporters in Illinois state, (2) Trump's meeting with Broadcasters MacCallum and Baier on Fox News Channel, and (3) Trump's interview with Broadcaster Cooper on CNN Channel. The paper uses a discourse analysis method to study these documents. Findings reveal that Searle's conditions (propositional content, preparatory, sincerity, essential) are deviated from in Trump's political speeches: (1) Representative acts by making false claims without providing any evidence, (2) commissive acts by committing himself to do a future action, but Trump fails to fulfill it, (3) directive acts by ordering Joe Biden's administration to prevent immigrants from entering the US, but Trump's order cannot be done, (4) expressive acts by jokingly apologizing to his wife because he does not do anything wrong that pushes him to make an apology to her and thus has no real intention to do this act, and (5) declarative acts by declaring they are going to end Pelosi's career politically, but she is not done. It is also found that deviation from these conditions happens as a means of persuading, influencing, threatening, mocking, and attacking others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the large amount of information that people process daily, it is important to understand memory for the truth and falsity of information. The most prominent theoretical models in this regard are the Cartesian model and the Spinozan model. The former assumes that both "true" and "false" tags may be added to the memory representation of encoded information; the latter assumes that only falsity is tagged. In the present work, we contrasted these two models with an expectation-violation model hypothesizing that truth or falsity tags are assigned when expectations about truth or falsity must be revised in light of new information. An interesting implication of the expectation-violation model is that a context with predominantly false information leads to the tagging of truth whereas a context with predominantly true information leads to the tagging of falsity. To test the three theoretical models against each other, veracity expectations were manipulated between participants by varying the base rates of allegedly true and false advertising claims. Memory for the veracity of these claims was assessed using a model-based analysis. To increase methodological rigor and transparency in the specification of the measurement model, we preregistered, a priori, the details of the model-based analysis test. Despite a large sample size (N = 208), memory for truth and falsity did not differ, regardless of the base rates of true and false claims. The results thus support the Cartesian model and provide evidence against the Spinozan model and the expectation-violation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the role of emotion in the interpretation and memory of sexual encounters. We consider situations likely to generate negative emotions during sex, and the mechanisms through which the experience of negative emotions can lead to false memories of coercion and mislabeling of an encounter as sexual assault. Specifically, we consider the role of emotion in directing attention during a sexual encounter and the effects of emotion as context for interpretation at the time of the encounter, and for retrieval and interpretation when the encounter is later recalled and reported. Our intent is to provide a greater understanding of the processes of interpretation and memory through which false claims of sexual assault might arise, if and when they do arise. Pathways through which sex that is unpleasant for various reasons can later be falsely remembered as coerced are considered, including roles of emotion in encoding and memory for sexual encounters involving voluntary sexual compliance and ineffective communication of nonconsent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Descartes claimed that the Cogito is 'so firm and sure that all the most extravagant suppositions of the sceptics were incapable of shaking it'. This paper aims to demonstrate that this claim is false by presenting a sceptical scenario for the Cogito. It is argued that the story 'The Circular Ruins' by J. L. Borges illustrates that one can doubt one's own existence and that pace Descartes (and many others) the claim 'I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind' is false. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "RESCUE CASES, THE MAJORITY RULE, AND THE GREATEST NUMBER" by Jonas Werner discusses the use of the majority rule in rescue cases to determine which option saves the greatest number of people. The author presents cases where the majority rule may not always lead to saving the greatest number, highlighting the complexities and limitations of this decision-making process. The article explores various scenarios and considerations, ultimately questioning the close connection between numbers and majorities in rescue situations. [Extracted from the article]

Recent years have witnessed a rather controversial debate on what antioxidants are and how beneficial they may be in the context of human health. Despite a considerable increase in scientific evidence, the matter remains highly divisive as different pieces of new data seem to support both the pro- and the anti-antioxidant perspective. Here, we argue that the matter at the heart of this debate is not necessarily empirical but of semantics. Thus, the controversy cannot be resolved with the traditional tools of natural sciences and by the mere accumulation of new data. In fact, the term "antioxidants" has been part of the scientific language game for a few decades and is nowadays used differently in the context of different scientific disciplines active at different levels of scientific complexity. It, therefore, represents not a single expression but an entire family of words with distinctively different connotations and associations. The transcendent use of this expression from a basic to a more complex discipline, such as going from chemistry to physiology, is problematic as it assigns the term with connotations that are not corroborated empirically. This may lead to false claims and aspirations not warranted by empirical data. Initially, health claims may not even be indented, yet, on occasion, they are welcome for reasons other than scientific ones. To resolve this debate, one may need to refrain from using the term "antioxidants" in disciplines and contexts where its meaning is unclear, limit its use to disciplines where it is essential and beneficial, and, in any case, become more specific in such contexts where its use is warranted, for instance, in the case of "dietary antioxidants". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High dropout rates in online courses, caused by potential factors such as financial issues, low motivation and poor self‐regulation among learners, pose a significant challenge to the sustainable development of online education. Therefore, continuance of online courses has become a critical topic in both the academic and practical fields. By combining the Community of Inquiry framework (CoI) with Expectation‐Confirmation Theory, this study introduces three new constructs—confirmed teaching presence (CTP), confirmed cognitive presence (CCP) and confirmed social presence (CSP)—into the research model to understand how confirmed expectations towards CoI determine online learners' course continuance intention. Utilizing a mixed‐methods approach, the study conducted quantitative analysis on 409 learner surveys using partial least squares (PLS), followed by semi‐structured interviews, which revealed the depth and breadth of the confirmed CoI expectations on learners' willingness to continue learning. Specifically, the quantitative results uncovered the differential effects of CTP, CCP and CSP on learners' course continuance intentions by elucidating the internal mechanisms. The interviews provided deeper insights by illuminating online learners' initial expectations as well as their pre‐course and post‐course expectations. The findings of the study not only provide evidence of the crucial role of confirmed expectations in shaping online learners' course continuance intention but also offer actionable recommendations for improving online course design and fostering lifelong learning. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Online courses have expanded in scale and attracted a large number of learners in recent years, the large base of online learners has brought tremendous and unprecedented challenges to online course development. A high dropout rate is especially considered as a severe issue for online course development. The issue of learners' continuance intention was often explored from a technological perspective and at the platform level by using Information system (IS) theories. The community of inquiry (CoI) framework was extensively utilized as a theoretical basis for understanding online learning experiences and its three elements—teaching, cognitive and social presences—have long been deemed as major antecedents that influence learners' online learning behaviours and intentions. What this paper adds This paper integrated the community of inquiry (CoI) framework with Expectation confirmation theory and proposed three new variables: confirmed teaching presence (CTP), confirmed cognitive presence (CCP) and confirmed social presence (CSP). The study reveals the internal mechanisms by which the three confirmed expectations impact online learners' courses continuance intention. This implies that different confirmed expectations may have varying effects on online learners' learning behaviour. This research collects data from multiple sources to comprehensively explore online learners' expectations and perceptions. It also sheds light on the importance of learners' actual participation in the learning process for predicting their behavioural intentions. Implications for practice and/or policy The finding that learners' confirmed expectations impact their online course continuance intention conveys an important message to course practitioners: exaggerated or false claims for the online course must be avoided to prevent students from forming unrealistic expectations. Improving online learners' course completion rate cannot be hinged upon simply and blindly fostering and extending the three presences. Instead, knowing learners' confirmed expectations of the three presences allows course practitioners to reconsider and organize the important course elements. The research reveals the distinct role that each confirmed presence plays in promoting online learners' course continuance intention and, meanwhile, expands the understanding of learners' learning needs and experiences. Practitioners could make timely and appropriate strategies based on these to better motivate course learners' engagement and retention. What is already known about this topic Online courses have expanded in scale and attracted a large number of learners in recent years, the large base of online learners has brought tremendous and unprecedented challenges to online course development. A high dropout rate is especially considered as a severe issue for online course development. The issue of learners' continuance intention was often explored from a technological perspective and at the platform level by using Information system (IS) theories. The community of inquiry (CoI) framework was extensively utilized as a theoretical basis for understanding online learning experiences and its three elements—teaching, cognitive and social presences—have long been deemed as major antecedents that influence learners' online learning behaviours and intentions. What this paper adds This paper integrated the community of inquiry (CoI) framework with Expectation confirmation theory and proposed three new variables: confirmed teaching presence (CTP), confirmed cognitive presence (CCP) and confirmed social presence (CSP). The study reveals the internal mechanisms by which the three confirmed expectations impact online learners' courses continuance intention. This implies that different confirmed expectations may have varying effects on online learners' learning behaviour. This research collects data from multiple sources to comprehensively explore online learners' expectations and perceptions. It also sheds light on the importance of learners' actual participation in the learning process for predicting their behavioural intentions. Implications for practice and/or policy The finding that learners' confirmed expectations impact their online course continuance intention conveys an important message to course practitioners: exaggerated or false claims for the online course must be avoided to prevent students from forming unrealistic expectations. Improving online learners' course completion rate cannot be hinged upon simply and blindly fostering and extending the three presences. Instead, knowing learners' confirmed expectations of the three presences allows course practitioners to reconsider and organize the important course elements. The research reveals the distinct role that each confirmed presence plays in promoting online learners' course continuance intention and, meanwhile, expands the understanding of learners' learning needs and experiences. Practitioners could make timely and appropriate strategies based on these to better motivate course learners' engagement and retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report results from simultaneous experiments conducted in late 2022 in Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. The experiments focus on fact-checking misinformation supportive of Russia in the Russia-Ukraine War. Meta-analysis makes clear that fact-checking misinformation reduces belief in pro-Kremlin false claims. Effects of fact-checks are not uniform across countries; our meta-analytic estimate is reliant on belief accuracy increases observed in Russia and Ukraine. While fact-checks improve belief accuracy, they do not change respondents' attitudes about which side to support in the War. War does not render individuals hopelessly vulnerable to misinformation—but fact-checking misinformation is unlikely to change their views toward the conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis study is an exploration of the perceptions and experiences of Nigerian university undergraduates regarding the manipulative strategies used in scam messages and their effects on victims. Questionnaires were designed from a nominal 5-point rating scale and shared with 100 randomly selected respondents from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the University of Benin, Nigeria. All responses gathered through an online survey were categorized and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. This study benefits from Sherif and Hovland’s social judgment theory (SJT), which suggests that when people receive a persuasive message, they compare it to their existing attitudes and beliefs. The findings show that scammers employ various manipulative strategies to deceive individuals. These strategies include the use of deceptive language, incomplete sentences, false claims, and the creation of a sense of urgency or desire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Has the "big lie"—the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump—shaped citizens' views of the legitimacy of other US elections? We argue that it has. Those who believe Trump's claim, whom we call election skeptics, lack confidence in elections for two interrelated reasons. First, because they think 2020 was inaccurately and unfairly conducted, they think that other elections will suffer a similar fate, and hence think these elections are illegitimate even before any votes are cast. Second, while most voters think elections are less legitimate when their preferred candidate loses, this effect will be especially large for election skeptics, because voter fraud gives them a mechanism to explain their candidate's loss. Using an original panel dataset spanning the 2020 and 2022 elections, we show strong support for these hypotheses. This has important implications for our elections, and their legitimacy, moving forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulations on nutrition and health claims are useful to protect consumers from deceptive practices of unscrupulous food manufacturers. Consumer protection is best achieved when relevant regulations are available and enforced. So far, no study has analyzed the robustness of regulations on nutrition and health claims in Malawi. In the present study, Malawi's regulation was compared with Codex Alimentarius as well as European, U.S American, and the Republic of South Africa's (RSA) regulations on nutrition and health claims. The study revealed that Malawi does not have regulations or guidelines on health claims and therefore, any health claim can be made. Likewise, Malawi's regulation on nutrition claims was found to be the least demanding and less elaborate. Out of 11 nutrition claims related requirements, the Malawi regulation satisfied only 3. The lack of comprehensive nutrition and health claims regulations in Malawi may give an opportunity to dishonest manufacturers to mislead and deceive consumers. False claims can also derail government's efforts towards addressing some nutrient deficiencies through food fortification programs. Currently, it is difficult to effectively regulate nutrition and health claims in Malawi. Therefore, the findings are a wake-up call for Malawi and other countries that may be in a similar situation to take the necessary remedial actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resurgence of green marketing engrossed the phenomenon of greenwashing, misleading and deceiving consumers with false claims about the firms' environmental practices. Drawing on attribution theory, this study examines the direct relationship between perceived greenwashing (PGW) and brand credibility (BC) and indirect relationship through green skepticism (GSP). The study also examines the moderating effect of environmental concern (EC) based on contingency theory in both direct and indirect relationships. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires from consumers and 508 usable responses were analyzed. The study's hypotheses were tested using PROCESS macro for SPSS. The results show that PGW is negatively related to BC both directly and indirectly via GSP, whereas EC moderated, directly and indirectly, the relationships between PGW and BC, suggesting that the relationship between PGW and BC is fostered when EC is high. This study helps managers to understand how overstated/deceptive green claims may lead to destructive consequences for the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on vaccine-related misinformation, this online experiment study (N = 502) examined how short-term repeated exposure of the corrective information may unexpectedly impact misinformation credibility through misinformation familiarity. The study found that repeated exposure of myths within corrective information increased the perceived familiarity about the misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. This effect, which ultimately increased misinformation credibility, was pronounced even among individuals with low and moderate levels of prior beliefs in the misinformation. Our findings suggest practical implications for minimizing the unexpected backfire effect of corrections against vaccine misinformation on social media. Debunking processes should avoid the dominant framing of original false claims within the correction and unnecessary repetitions of the correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The False Claims Act-the United States' primary weapon against fraud in federal programs-imposes treble damages and mandatory penalties of $13,946-$27,894 per instance of fraud. The False Claims Act applies broadly across federal programs ranging from defense contract claims worth millions of dollars to health care fraud that may not inflict any monetary harm. The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution purportedly protects against the government inflicting excessive fines. However, the current judicially created standard presumes that civil penalties are constitutional because Congress set them. This standard has led courts to affirm judgments as large as 1,558 times greater than the economic harm inflicted by the purported fraud. While the False Claims Act should account for more than mere economic harm, the government's goals of deterrence, retribution, and incentivization remain attainable within the bounds of constitutional protection. The Supreme Court should adopt a standard that comports with the Excessive Fines Clause in the context of civil penalties-one that considers the actual economic harm inflicted. The Court should replicate its standard for excessive jury awards under the Due Process Clause and adopt a 20:1 penalties-to-damages soft-line ratio. Under this new standard, penalties that are twenty times larger than the inflicted monetary damage would no longer be presumed constitutional. The court would still consider whether the penalty was grossly disproportionate to the offense through the existing multifactor test but without the presumption of constitutionality currently afforded to all congressionally set fines. This ratio appropriately defers to Congress and grants judicial flexibility to adapt to the case at hand while providing meaningful Eighth Amendment protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic poses an unprecedented risk to society. Studies suggested that people's beliefs about COVID-19 are divided depending on partisan affiliations. Building on the belief gap hypothesis, this study adopts a nationally representative survey (N = 1,119) to examine whether political identity or support for Trump is more strongly related to having false beliefs about COVID-19. Results showed that support for Trump is a better predictor of having false beliefs about COVID-19 than conservative/Republican political identity. Support for Trump predicted having false beliefs, and such a tendency increased when they were more educated. Trust in scientific and news media institutions and conservative news use mediated the relationship between support for Trump and having false beliefs. Our findings bear implications on belief gap studies by introducing new mediators such as different dimensions of institutional trust and shed light on why people who support Trump are more susceptible to false claims about COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Scientific Development for Studies & Research (JSD) is the property of Journal of Scientific Development for Studies & Research (JSD) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Femina Politica is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Electoral misinformation, where citizens believe false or misleading claims about the electoral process and electoral institutions—sometimes actively and strategically spread by political actors—is a challenge to public confidence in elections specifically and democracy more broadly. In this article, we analyze a combination of 42 million clicks in links and apps from behavioral tracking data of 2,200 internet users and a four-wave panel survey to investigate how different kinds of online news and media use relate to beliefs in electoral misinformation during a contentious political period—the 2022 Brazilian presidential elections. We find that, controlling for other factors, using news from legacy news media is associated with belief in fewer claims of electoral misinformation over time. We find null or inconsistent effects for using digital-born news media and various digital platforms, including Facebook and WhatsApp. Furthermore, we find that trust in news plays a significant role as a moderator. Belief in electoral misinformation, in turn, undermines trust in news. Overall, our findings document the important role of the news media as an institution in curbing electoral misinformation, even as they also underline the precarity of trust in news during contentious political periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A report by UNCTAD on illicit financial flows claims that misinvoicing of extractive commodity exports accounts for very large illicit financial flows from African countries. The report has received considerable attention, and it is possible that governments may take actions based on the assumption that the claims in the report are true. The present paper analyses these claims, focusing on South African gold exports, which account for the vast majority of the alleged illicit financial flows. Data in the source used for the UNCTAD report (UN Comtrade) are analysed in greater detail than is presented in the UNCTAD report. It is shown that the claims in the UNCTAD report are not supported by the data. It is impossible to prove any misinvoicing and anomalies in the statistics cannot be shown to be due to illicit financial flows. The authors of the report were clearly aware that misinvoicing could not be proved and that there were alternatives, more likely explanations of the statistical anomalies identified. They chose, however, to still present their claims of misinvoicing. UNCTAD produced a report with similar claims in 2016, and those claims were disproved at the time. There is very little evidence of misinvoicing in extractive commodities trade, and mirror trade analysis is in any case of very limited value when it comes to detecting or proving it. The UNCTAD report also uses mirror trade analysis in a highly questionable way that differs from the way it is applied by respected researchers. Different methods are necessary to identify or assess the magnitude of any illicit financial flows associated with the extractive industry. More granular data, supported by an understanding of international trade statistics, the international trading system and trading practices for the commodities concerned are needed in order to arrive at estimates with some degree of accuracy. UNCTAD was given an opportunity to comment on the article and did so. UNCTAD did not dispute the substance of the present article. Unfortunately, UNCTAD has refused to allow Mineral Economics to publish the comments. Nothing in the comments justified any changes in the text of the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Philosophical discussions of free speech often focus on moral considerations such as the harm that certain forms of expression might cause. However, in addition to our moral obligations, we also have a distinct set of epistemic obligations—and even when a false belief doesn't harm anyone, it constitutes an epistemically bad outcome. Moreover, the existing psychological evidence suggests that human beings are vulnerable to the influence of a wide variety of false claims via a wide variety of psychological mechanisms. Taken together, these facts suggest that there is a purely epistemic justification for restricting the distribution of misinformation: Because each of us has an individual epistemic obligation to avoid unnecessary exposure to misinformation, and because avoiding such exposure is simply too difficult when acting alone, we all have a shared epistemic obligation to establish laws or regulations restricting the widespread distribution of misinformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1967, Alvin Goldman prominently claimed that the traditional JTB analysis is adequate for non‐empirical knowledge. Since then, this claim has remained widely unchallenged. In this paper, I show that this claim is false. I provide two examples in which a true belief is a priori justified but epistemically defective such that it does not constitute knowledge. Finally, I submit a novel analysis of a priori knowledge that avoids the Gettier problem. What is particularly important and distinctive about my analysis is that I neither need to make the justification condition so strong that only infallible justification is allowed, nor do I need to explicitly introduce a truth condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government agencies including border control have an interest to detect if someone provides false information about their nationality. While response time tasks have been proposed to be able to detect someone's true nationality, there is the risk that they will often err, particularly in the face of information contamination (i.e. someone having thorough knowledge of the country). We screened 2,200 participants to create three groups: Dutch participants (n = 118), and British participants with (n = 99) and without knowledge of the Netherlands (n = 118). They were tested with either the autobiographical Implicit Association Test (aIAT) or the Inducer-Concealed Information Test (I-CIT). While both tests could discriminate Dutch participants from British participants without knowledge of the Netherlands (AUCI-CIT =.65; AUCaIAT =.88), only the aIAT could also discriminate Dutch participants from British participants with knowledge (AUCI-CIT =.52; AUCaIAT =.86). Therefore, the aIAT, but not the I-CIT, could be a helpful tool to detect false nationality claims, even when information contamination is suspected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the effect of three types of health-related claims (health, nutrition and ingredient) and product healthiness on situational skepticism toward the claims that appear on the front-of-package of food products. The effect of situational skepticism on the purchase intention of the product is further examined. Design/methodology/approach: Two experimental studies were conducted with a 3 (health-related claims: health claim vs nutrition claim vs ingredient claim) × 2 (product healthiness: healthy vs unhealthy) between-subjects factorial design. Study 1 investigates the effects within a single product category (Biscuits) and Study 2 the effects across product categories (Salad and Pizza). Findings: The results demonstrate that situational skepticism is the highest for health claims, followed by nutrition claims and the least for ingredient claims. In addition, situational skepticism is higher for claims appearing on unhealthy products vis-à-vis healthy ones. Finally, situational skepticism mediates the relationship between claim type, product healthiness and product purchase intention. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to the field of nutrition labeling by advancing research on information processing of nutrition labels through the lens of the persuasion knowledge model (Friestad and Wright, 1994). Specifically, this study contributes to a nuanced understanding of claim formats on how the language properties of the claim – its vagueness, specificity and verifiability – can affect consumer perception. This study finds that higher specificity, verifiability and lower vagueness of ingredient claims lead to lower skepticism and hence higher purchase intention. Practical implications: Furthermore, this study incrementally contributes to the ongoing discussion about the claim–carrier combination by showing that health-related claims are better perceived on healthy compared to unhealthy products. Hence, managers should avoid health washing, as this can backfire and cause harm to the reputation of the firm. Social implications: From a public policy point of view, this study makes a case for strong monitoring and regulations of ingredient claims, as consumers believe these claims easily and hence can be misled by false ingredient claims made by unethical marketers. Originality/value: The scope of research on skepticism has largely been limited to examining a general individual tendency of being suspicious (i.e. dispositional skepticism) in health-related claims as well as other areas of marketing. In this research, the authors extend the scope by examining how specific types of claims (health vs nutrition vs ingredient) and product healthiness jointly impact consumer skepticism, i.e. situational skepticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discourse regarding clothing in Islam regularly emphasizes on divine dress code differentiates between the permissible and the forbidden, as enshrined in Islamic scripture. Possibly, a misconception could prevail within attempts by outsiders of the fraternity of scripture studies. For instance, there is a claim in an English paper “Clothing and Colours in Early Islam: Adornment (Aesthetics), Symbolism and Differentiation” by Hadas Hirsch states that Muslim men are forbidden from wearing yellow, red and colourful clothes. To answer the misconception, this study focuses on hadiths in the chapters on clothing in alṢaḥīḥayn. This study employs a qualitative methodology through content analysis on the paper and contextual analysis on the culled chapters. Ultimately, this study identifies the argument presented by Hirsch and then finds narrations on the mentioned colours for men in the culled chapters. Based on the narrations, these colours are allowed for men since they are not performing pilgrimage ritual and their red dress are not of safflower-based dye. Indeed, the false claim lies in dependence on insufficient texts besides the hindrance in construing archaic words in text of hadith. Hereby, this study stresses on the conveying of teaching from hadith into other languages, especially English should be made by its scholarly fraternity in hadith which can reveal sufficient array of narrations for each topic. In addition, the text which has its Arabic language root back to over fourteen centuries is understandable in the hands of scholars in the field of hadith and Islamic scripture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate optimal project management in a setting plagued by an indefinite number of setbacks that are discovered en route to project completion. The contractor can cover up delays in progress due to shirking either by making false claims of setbacks or by postponing the reports of real ones. The sponsor optimally induces work and honest reporting via a soft deadline and a reward for completion that specifies a bonus for early delivery. Late‐stage setbacks trigger randomization between minimally feasible project extension and (inefficient) cancellation. Because extensions may be granted repeatedly, arbitrarily large overruns in schedule and budget are possible after which the project may still be canceled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on various legal decisions, including the termination of a patient's ventilation without the approval of the guardianship court and the non-obligation of a defendant to search for a power of attorney. A doctor is accused of making false claims for COVID-19 vaccinations. It is noted that computer fraud is possible even without data verification. A legal dispute over the social insurance obligation of a doctor working in a foreign practice is described. Employment is not excluded simply because the practice owners receive a portion of the patient fees. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings: Firms aiming to minimize the potential damage from a crisis situation must engage in ethical green communication. Reference to genuine past social contributions and successes can prevent the crisis from escalating and prompting key stakeholders to show moral indignation. However, such an outcome is likely in the event that the communication involves false or misleading claims being made and subsequently exposed. Originality/value: The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does the news media exacerbate or reduce misinformation problems? Although some news media deliberately try to counter misinformation, it has been suggested that they might also inadvertently, and sometimes purposefully, amplify it. We conducted a two-wave panel survey in Brazil, India, and the UK (N = 4732) to investigate the effect of news and digital platform use on awareness of and belief in COVID-19 misinformation over time (January to February 2022). We find little support for the idea that the news exacerbates misinformation problems. News use broadened people's awareness of false claims but did not increase belief in false claims—in some cases, news use actually weakened false belief acquisition, depending on access mode (online or offline) and outlet type. In line with previous research, we also find that news use strengthens political knowledge gain over time, again depending on outlets used. The effect of digital platforms was inconsistent across countries, and in most cases not significant—though some, like Twitter, were associated with positive outcomes while others were associated with negative outcomes. Overall, our findings challenge the notion that news media, by reporting on false and misleading claims, ultimately leave the public more misinformed, and support the idea that news helps people become more informed and, in some cases, more resilient to misinformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, advancements in text-to-speech technologies have yielded more natural-sounding voices. However, this has also made it easier to generate malicious fake voices and disseminate false narratives. ASVspoof stands out as a prominent benchmark in the ongoing effort to automatically detect fake voices, thereby playing a crucial role in countering illicit access to biometric systems. Consequently, there is a growing need to broaden our perspectives, particularly when it comes to detecting fake voices on social media platforms. Moreover, existing detection models commonly face challenges related to their generalization performance. This study sheds light on specific instances involving the latest speech generation models. Furthermore, we introduce a novel framework designed to address the nuances of detecting fake voices in the context of social media. This framework considers not only the voice waveform but also the speech content. Our experiments have demonstrated that the proposed framework considerably enhances classification performance, as evidenced by the reduction in equal error rate. This underscores the importance of considering the waveform and the content of the voice when tasked with identifying fake voices and disseminating false claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The False Claims Act (FCA) has been a powerful tool in fighting government fraud for over 150 years. Recently, there has been a disagreement over the appropriate standard of review for FCA claims. The Ninth Circuit has applied the "rational relation" standard, which is fair to defendants and encourages whistleblowers to report fraud. Adopting this standard in all circuits is important for holding the government accountable and incentivizing whistleblowers. The article examines the historical background of the FCA, the circuit split on the standard of review, and argues for limiting the Department of Justice's ability to dismiss FCA suits. [Extracted from the article]

Misinformation on social media is a pervasive challenge. In this study (N = 415) a social-media simulation was used to test two potential interventions for countering misinformation: a credibility badge and a social norm. The credibility badge was implemented by associating accounts, including participants', with a credibility score. Participants' credibility score was dynamically updated depending on their engagement with true and false posts. To implement the social-norm intervention, participants were provided with both a descriptive norm (i.e., most people do not share misinformation) and an injunctive norm (i.e., sharing misinformation is the wrong thing to do). Both interventions were effective. The social-norm intervention led to reduced belief in false claims and improved discrimination between true and false claims. It also had some positive impact on social-media engagement, although some effects were not robust to alternative analysis specifications. The presence of credibility badges led to greater belief in true claims, lower belief in false claims, and improved discrimination. The credibility-badge intervention also had robust positive impacts on social-media engagement, leading to increased flagging and decreased liking and sharing of false posts. Cumulatively, the results suggest that both interventions have potential to combat misinformation and improve the social-media information landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancing a consistent anti-racist analytic to challenge antisemitism demands standing with all those who suffer from systemic racism, and specifically with Palestinians. However, antisemitism and anti-Palestinian racism are rarely understood and opposed in a unified movement of solidarity. Here, we address what antisemitism is not, especially the false claim that equates antisemitism with criticism of the state of Israel – a claim that is reaching fever pitch at the current moment. Turning to context, we consider periodisations about how antisemitism has changed over time and place, suggesting we are in a new period of increasing supposed legitimacy for antisemitism in Western liberal-democratic capitalist states, associated with the rising influence of white nationalism. We then consider what antisemitism as anti-Jewish racism is, and how it is coded in certain ways, including: elite privilege; conspiracy claims; and symbolic marking for threats and violence. We conclude with notes on the potential for solidarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic age assessments are crucial in the evaluation of criminal responsibility and preventing false age claims. Of all the methods available, the Greulich and Pyle (GP) atlas is most commonly used for age estimation purposes. Therefore, the current study sought to analyze the reliability and applicability of the GP standard and, additionally, to determine any possible association between the socioeconomic status (SES), food habits, and estimated skeletal maturity in the North Indian population. The study included 627 (334 males and 293 females) healthy children up to 19 years of age with varying SES and food habits. The skeletal age (SA) was estimated by three different evaluators using the GP atlas. The chronological mean age (CA) and SA were compared in different age cohorts. A paired t-test and a Pearson chi-square test were applied to show the difference between CA and estimated SA and the association of skeletal maturity with SES and food habits. The estimated skeletal age in males was retarded by 0.142 years or 1.72 months (p ≤ 0.05), whereas in females, it was retarded by 0.259 years or 3.12 months (p ≤ 0.05). In males, the GP method has significantly underestimated SA in age cohorts 3–4, 4–5, 6–7, 7–8, 8–9, and 12–13, whereas it overestimated in 10–11 and 18–19 years. However, in females, the SA was significantly underestimated in age groups 10–11, 12–13, and 14–15, respectively. Estimated skeletal maturity had no significant association with SES and food habits. The current study concludes that the GP atlas may not be applicable to North India's population. The observed difference in assessed skeletal maturity may be due to geographical region, genetics, hormonal effects, etc., which require further investigation. Hence, population-specific standards are necessary to determine the bone age of Indian children accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the communication strategies of multinational corporations in response to the Russo-Ukrainian War and the public pressure to divest from the Russian domestic market. By content analyzing official statements from the top 50 revenue-generating multinational corporations in Russia, the article identifies patterns in corporate narratives about the war, their actions and concerns, and potential solutions. The findings reveal that most companies declare scaling down their presence in Russia while maintaining certain basic obligations, prioritizing employee safety, and expressing concerns about the global economy. While few explicitly condemn Russia’s aggression, many adopt neutral language to avoid naming Russia as the aggressor. Corporations emphasize the importance of diplomacy, adherence to international law, and the pursuit of peace, but often avoid proposing concrete solutions. Despite variations across industries, countries of origin, and decisions to stay or leave Russia, the differences in statements were not significant. The uniformity of corporate statements and evidence that companies frequently do not follow their declared promises suggest potential “bluewashing” – making vague or false claims of social responsibility or anti-war stances to improve their public image. These findings emphasize the need for multinational corporations to develop sincere and original wartime communication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines journalistic coverage of false information through a qualitative textual analysis of news about four popular false information cases during the 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections: The false claims that (1) the Pope endorsed Donald Trump; (2) Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager ran a pedophilia ring in a pizza shop; (3) the 2020 election was fraudulent and stolen; and (4) liberal politicians and celebrities were Satan worshippers and pedophiles. The analysis identified three dimensions of correction of false information in news coverage. The first dimension examined emphasis on the correct rather than false information. This nuanced past research by considering different practices, such as elaborating on correct information and avoiding the inclusion of incorrect information. The second dimension referred to the tone used to correct false information. The adoption of an assertive tone demonstrated journalists' use of their voice to authoritatively correct false information. The third dimension entailed the inclusion of sources, which were used to frame correct information consistently with a diversity of audiences' worldviews. These findings offer a framework to assess journalistic reporting on false information and illuminate strategies to stem its spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to the 2020 election President Trump suggested the election should be postponed "until the country can make sure that only eligible American citizens can vote." With the COVID‐19 pandemic leading many states to take steps that made it easier for citizens to vote safely, the president and his allies made numerous false claims about voter fraud; others argued that voter fraud is not common and is unlikely to appreciably increase with greater reliance on mail balloting. We rely on a national Internet‐based survey experiment conducted prior to the 2020 election to assess the effectiveness of both messages on citizens' support for a hypothetical proposal to postpone the presidential election. The results suggest that respondents were more likely to support postponement if they received a fake news message that fraud is common. The results also suggest that these effects are conditional; both political party and knowledge moderate the relationship. Related Articles: Aguado, N. Alexander. 2022. "When Charismatic Leadership Trumps Social Networking: Searching for the Effects of Social Media on Beliefs of Electoral Legitimacy." Politics & Policy 50(5): 942–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12494. Fisher, Patrick. 2020. "Generational Replacement and the Impending Transformation of the American Electorate." Politics & Policy 48(1): 38–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12340. Stockemer, Daniel. 2013. "Corruption and Turnout in Presidential Elections: A Macro‐Level Quantitative Analysis." Politics & Policy 41(2): 189–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the role of information sources in the propagation and reception of misleading narratives on social media, focusing on the case of the Chemtrail conspiracy theory--a false claim that the trails in the sky behind airplanes are chemicals deliberately spread for sinister reasons. We collected data from Facebook Pages and Groups discussing the conspiracy theory. We specifically focused on identifying and analyzing "signature" information sources, which are repeatedly used by online communities engaged in the discussion of a misleading narrative but are not widely used by other communities. The findings indicate that messages referencing signature sources contain more death-, illness-, risk-, and health-related words, convey more negativity, and elicit more negative reactions from users, compared with those without signature sources. The insights from this study could contribute to the development of effective strategies to monitor and counter the spread of misleading narratives in digital spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review published in this journal claims that my first academic monograph, Uncertainty in the Empire of Routine: The Administrative Revolution of the Eighteenth-Century Qing State (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2022), fails to meet "basic academic standards" (George Zhijian Qiao, "Was There an Administrative Revolution? Review Essay on Maura Dykstra, Uncertainty in the Empire of Routine: The Administrative Revolution of the Eighteenth-Century Qing State ," Journal of Chinese History (2023), doi:10.1017/jch.2023.19). The reviewer makes this remarkable claim not by demonstrating any egregious or particularly damning fault, but rather with an argument of preponderance, claiming that the book contains "hundreds of errors" (2). The review also contains several dubious and disturbing arguments about what constitutes good history. The flaws of those larger methodological and historiographical assertions are serious and compelling enough that they must be treated at length, separately. In this, my initial response to the review, I will constrain myself to rebutting the reviewer's false claims that the book is full of errors and that I have committed academic malfeasance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]