Partisan online media use, political misinformation, and attitudes toward partisan issues

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether or to what extent partisan online media use is positively associated with people’s obtaining partisan misinformation and forming partisanship-consistent attitudes toward political issues. This study examines whether people are more likely to obtain attitude-consistent misinformation that undercuts their partisan beliefs. Also examined is the role that misinformation plays in the relationship between partisan online media use and attitudes towards partisan issues. A nation-wide online survey of 1,032 respondents in South Korea showed that people were more likely to accept misinformation if it was supportive of their partisanship. Findings further suggest that political misinformation mediated the relationship between partisan online media use and attitudes toward partisan issues. Partisan online media use appears to guide people in their learning party-consistent misinformation that leads them to have greater partisanship-consistent attitudes toward political issues.