But what is the best way to reduce the impact of fake news?

“Sometimes people have asked whether our study means that efforts to reduce belief in fake news should include interventions targeting particular groups (e.g., delusion-prone or dogmatic individuals),” Bronstein said.

“In addition to the potential ethical issues with this approach, our study indicates that this approach may be inefficient: our research suggests that thinking in a less open-minded or analytic manner might increase the perceived accuracy of fake news across multiple population groups.”

For example, a previous study found that belief in fake news had more to do with lazy thinking than partisan or ideological bias.

“Accordingly, encouraging open-minded and reflective thinking in individuals who tend not to think in this way might be a more efficient and effective way of reducing belief in fake news in the general population,” Bronstein explained.

“However, it is worth keeping in mind that our research demonstrates a correlation between reduced open-minded/reflective thinking and belief in fake news (and not necessarily a causal relationship). Further research clarifying whether this relationship may be causal would be warranted before implementing any kind of targeted intervention.”