According to a new study, people with high levels of emotional intelligence are less prone to “false news”.
The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, shows that those who correctly identified the message types were most likely to score high on the EQ tests.
“Fake news on social media is now an issue of significant public and government concern,” said Tony Anderson, researcher at the University of Strathclyde in the UK.
“Research into treating this problem is still in its infancy, but more recent studies have begun to focus on the psychological factors that might make some people less susceptible to false news,” added Anderson.
For the study, the research team invited nearly 100 participants to read a series of messages on social media and determine whether they were real or fictional and briefly describe the reasons for their responses.
They were also asked to take a test to determine their level of Emotional Intelligence (EQ, or Emotional Quotient), and were asked a series of questions as they considered the veracity of each message.
Attendees were presented with real and fictional news on topics such as health, crime, wealth inequality and the environment.
Fictional items included aspects such as emotional language, brief information, and a lack of attributed sources.
(With contributions from agencies)
