Disinformation, Polarization and Satisfaction with Democracy in Spain

Spain exhibits one of the highest levels of perceived exposure to fake news in the European Union and ranks among the countries most concerned about disinformation. As previous research suggest, citizens’ perceptions of the prevalence and effectiveness of fake news influence their satisfaction with the functioning of democracy, although questions remain about the specific mechanisms underlying this relationship. This research seeks to further explore the relationship between perceptions of disinformation, polarization, and democratic satisfaction through the “third-person effect”. Applied to disinformation, this effect refers to the perceived influence of fake news on other citizens or social groups compared to oneself or one’s reference group. Given that democracy is based on collective public decision-making and the principle of political equality among citizens, perceptions of how other citizens or social and political groups become informed and make political decisions may affect the perceived legitimacy of the democratic system. Our hypotheses maintain that (i) the perceived influence of fake news on other citizens or ideological groups affects distrust in democratic institutions and satisfaction with the functioning of democracy, and that (ii) the perceived influence of disinformation on others increases with social distance, particularly among citizens who display higher levels of polarization. Thus, polarization could exacerbate the harmful effects of disinformation on democratic legitimacy, in addition to being aggravated by it. Methodologically, this research is based on an original experimental survey comparing the effects of exposure to different types of news (true news/fake news) that combine different ideological orientations (pro-left/pro-right).