In political campaigns, we often hear the same information or “talking points” repeatedly. How does this affect the voters and their perception of the information’s veracity?
The Illusory Truth Effect helps explain why political campaigns often deliberately repeat information—especially when it is to manipulate voters.
In 2021, researchers Aumyo Hassan and Sarah Barber said: “Repeated information is often perceived as more truthful than new information. This finding is known as the illusory truth effect, and it is typically thought to occur because repetition increases processing fluency. Because fluency and truth are frequently correlated in the real world, people learn to use processing fluency as a marker for truthfulness.”*
In other words, “People tend to perceive claims as truer if they have been exposed to them before.” This helps to explain how advertisements and propaganda work, and why people believe fake news and disinformation.
By understanding and identifying the Illusory Truth Effect you can counter the effects. If you see a negative message repeated in a political campaign, remind yourself that humans are prone to believing messages to which they are consistently exposed. Question the ethics of the person or organization spreading the message.
*Hassan, A., Barber, S.J. The effects of repetition frequency on the illusory truth effect. Cogn. Research 6, 38 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00301-5