The Effect of Langerian Mindfulness on the Consumption and Conveyance of Fake News

Fake news has real and widespread consequences. 57% of people reported seeing fake news during a recent election cycle, with 19% believing it influenced how they planned to vote (West, 2018). To date, very few studies have tested the effect of mindfulness as a potential strategy to mitigate the sway of fake news. Using a 2 (newscaster/audience) x2 (mindful/mindless) design, we tested the effect of Langerian mindfulness on fake news delivery and consumption. Recorded “newscasters” reading a fake news story were presented to audience participants. Half of the newscasters were mindful when recording the fake news story, and half of audience participants rating the story were also mindful. We hypothesized that a mindful audience would be less susceptible to the fake news claims purported in the article. Overall, we found that mindfulness had a significant impact on the audience: mindful participants were more likely to correctly identify which elements of the news story were fake and which elements were true. We also found that the mindful audience rated the newscaster as less charismatic and trustworthy, and the story as less shareable and informative, compared to the mindless audience. This study suggests that mindful consideration of alternative perspectives while consuming news may inoculate a person against the effect of fake news.