On Tuesday the 31st of October Prof. Stephan Lewandowsky from the University of Bristol (UK) visited our research group to give a lecture in the ‘Digital Matters’ series about mis- and disinformation, entitled ‘When liars are considered honest: From alternative conceptions of honesty to alternative facts in communications by American politicians’.
Stephan Lewandowsky is an esteemed professor in Cognitive Psychology, who has won many awards, including a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award, for his work on memory, decision-making, and knowledge. His current work focuses on the persistence of mis- and disinformation in society, particularly on scientific issues such as climate change, and how we can reduce belief in misinformation.
In his lecture, Lewandowsky explained how so-called belief-speaking has increased in American political communication over the last years. When politicians engage in belief-speaking, they rely on common sense, intuition and feelings rather than facts and evidence to communicate their ideas. The public may see politicians who engage in belief-speaking as sincere, even if their claims are not backed up by facts. In his research, Lewandowsky shows that belief-speaking can be a gateway for sharing low-quality information. This can help us understand why politicians who share disinformation may still be considered honest by the public.
It was an honor to host Stephan Lewandowsky’s lecture and to welcome him to our research group. We want to thank Stephan Lewandowsky for his interesting insights and look forward to seeing more from his research project.
Data-Driven Democracy Lab 