Personality and perspicacity: Role of personality traits and cognitive ability in political misinformation discernment and sharing behavior

This study examines whether personality traits predict an individual's perceived accuracy and sharing intention of political misinformation and if cognitive ability further moderates this relationship. An analysis of survey data from the US revealed that individuals with high agreeableness and low extraversion were more likely to discern pro-conservative misinformation correctly. Individuals with high agreeableness and conscientiousness were also less likely to share partisan misinformation. Further, individuals with high cognitive ability were more likely to discern correctly and less likely to share misinformation across the partisan spectrum. Moderation analyses suggest that low cognitive individuals with higher neuroticism and openness are more prone to sharing partisan misinformation. However, high levels of agreeableness can safeguard low cognitive individuals from sharing. We discuss the implications of this work for theorizing misinformation engagement and its effects.