Psychological Theory

The application of foundational psychological theories to misinformation detection and resistance. Key frameworks include the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), which distinguishes central-route (argument-based) and peripheral-route (heuristic-based) persuasion; the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), which models intention formation through attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control; and dual-process theories of human cognition.

These theories ground detection systems in human cognitive and behavioral patterns, enabling interpretable features that capture psychological dimensions of persuasion and belief formation.

Key papers

• A Multi-Branch Feature Fusion Approach for Health Misinformation Detection and Propagation — ELM and TPB operationalized as detection features
• The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories — Psychological foundations of conspiracy belief
• The psychological drivers of misinformation belief and its resistance to correction — Drivers of misinformation belief

Related topics

• Motivated reasoning (cognitive bias)
• Persuasion (influence mechanisms)
• Belief In Misinformation (psychological acceptance)