Communicating ‘Truth:’ Consumption and transmission of polarized information amongst young people in a divided society

Young people trust information from their social ingroup, and are prone to biases in information consumption and transmission. Building on previously funded work, this project team led by Jocelyn Dautel at the Queen's University Belfast aims to investigate the transmission of polarized information, epistemic vigilance, and openness to belief revision among young people in the historically divided society of Northern Ireland. The team is using mixed methods to investigate individual-, interpersonal-, structural- and cultural-level influences on the transmission and consumption of polarized information.

They aim to:

1. Highlight overarching systemic narratives influencing polarization and the development of epistemic thinking
2. Test biases in the consumption and transmission of polarized information across young people depending on content and source of the information.
3. Elucidate the role of culture and social context, as well as cognitive thought processes in information consumption, transmission, and belief revision processes.

The project encompasses analysis, synthesis, dissemination, and community engagement. Taken together, the project team believes these experiments can contribute to an interconnected and culturally-situated understanding of the consumption and transmission of polarized information. They also believe these experiments can lead to developing fostering epistemic vigilance within divided communities, and can inform interventions designed to foster knowledgeable and peaceful societies. Findings will be disseminated to both international research audiences and local stakeholders.