Study finds repetition boosts belief in climate-sceptic claims

Just a single repetition of a statement sceptical of climate change seemed "truer" even to the strongest of supporters, a new study has found, according to a report by PTI.

Although most of the study's participants endorsed climate science, the perceived truth of both types of claims — those aligned with climate science and those sceptical — increased when repeated, said lead author Mary Jiang from The Australian National University.

"This increase in perceived truth after repetition occurred even for groups highly concerned about climate change, and when people could later identify that the claim supports the other side," Jiang said.

Furthermore, the researchers said that with misinformation tending to gain traction more quickly compared to facts, the power of repetition carries a dangerous weight.

For the study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, the authors conducted two experiments.

In the first one, 52 participants reviewed multiple statements as climate-skeptical, climate-science, or weather-related statements.

After 15 minutes, they reviewed a second set of statements, half of which were repetitions of the previous ones, from 'Definitely True' to 'Definitely False' on a six-point scale.

Following this, in the second experiment, along with rating each statement for its perceived truth, the participants also defined their own climate views.

"For our climate science endorsing participants, a single exposure increased the perceived truth of climate scientist claims as well as the perceived truth of climate-sceptic claims," the authors wrote.

The results implied the benefits of repeating claims that have a scientific basis, they said.

"Study participants rated claims that were aligned with climate scientists as more true when they were repeated than when they were not, implying that it is beneficial to repeat claims that have scientific consensus, even when recipients are already in agreement with it," Jiang said.

In conclusion, the authors suggested that future studies include non-climate issues, such as immigration, education and healthcare, and experiment with periods and rounds of repetition.