Influence of Political Affiliation and Criticism on the Effectiveness of Political Fact-Checking

Political fact-checking assumes that a rational public will use accurate information to update their opinions, especially on important issues of public policy and political campaigns. Current research on the effectiveness of fact-checking does not provide a clear conclusion. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of political affiliation and type of fact-check criticism (false/half-true) on evaluation of President Obama’s statement that immigration reform would not provide amnesty to undocumented persons living in the U.S. Results confirm differences for political affiliation and type of fact-check.