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Fore! Does forewarning inoculate people against the false balance effect?

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Title: Fore! Does forewarning inoculate people against the false balance effect?
Authors: Han, Tianshuang (AUTHOR), Snook, Brent (AUTHOR), Day, Martin V. (AUTHOR)
Source: Legal & Criminological Psychology. Feb2026, Vol. 31 Issue 1, p102-120. 19p.
Subjects: Consensus (Social sciences), Warnings, Social processes, Lie detectors & detection, Cognitive bias, Communication strategies
Abstract: Background & Aims: We examined the effect of falsely balanced messages on perceptions of expert consensus about non‐verbal lie detection and whether forewarning inoculates people against the fake debate strategy. Materials & Methods: Participants (N = 307) read a media report that revealed high consensus among experts (nearly 90%) that non‐verbal cues are unreliable indicators of deception and were randomly exposed to (1) no comments from experts, (2) balanced comments (three comments from each expert on opposing sides), (3) evidentiary balanced comments (five comments from a deception detection expert and one comment from a contrarian expert), (4) balanced comments along with a forewarning about the 'fake debate' strategy, or (5) evidentiary balanced comments along with a forewarning about the 'fake debate' strategy. Results: Results showed that participants intuitively believe that non‐verbal cues are reliable indicators of deceit. Although participants were made aware that the consensus from scientists is that non‐verbal lie detection is futile, the inclusion of balanced comments alongside the data still decreased perceived scientific consensus. Balanced comments also reduced people's policy support in favour of scientific consensus, and forewarning had minimal effect. Discussion: We discuss the implications of our findings for efforts to mitigate the fake debate strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Legal & Criminological Psychology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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PubType: Academic Journal
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  Data: Fore! Does forewarning inoculate people against the false balance effect?
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Han%2C+Tianshuang%22">Han, Tianshuang</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Snook%2C+Brent%22">Snook, Brent</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Day%2C+Martin+V%2E%22">Day, Martin V.</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Legal+%26+Criminological+Psychology%22">Legal & Criminological Psychology</searchLink>. Feb2026, Vol. 31 Issue 1, p102-120. 19p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Consensus+%28Social+sciences%29%22">Consensus (Social sciences)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Warnings%22">Warnings</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+processes%22">Social processes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Lie+detectors+%26+detection%22">Lie detectors & detection</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+bias%22">Cognitive bias</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Communication+strategies%22">Communication strategies</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Background & Aims: We examined the effect of falsely balanced messages on perceptions of expert consensus about non‐verbal lie detection and whether forewarning inoculates people against the fake debate strategy. Materials & Methods: Participants (N = 307) read a media report that revealed high consensus among experts (nearly 90%) that non‐verbal cues are unreliable indicators of deception and were randomly exposed to (1) no comments from experts, (2) balanced comments (three comments from each expert on opposing sides), (3) evidentiary balanced comments (five comments from a deception detection expert and one comment from a contrarian expert), (4) balanced comments along with a forewarning about the 'fake debate' strategy, or (5) evidentiary balanced comments along with a forewarning about the 'fake debate' strategy. Results: Results showed that participants intuitively believe that non‐verbal cues are reliable indicators of deceit. Although participants were made aware that the consensus from scientists is that non‐verbal lie detection is futile, the inclusion of balanced comments alongside the data still decreased perceived scientific consensus. Balanced comments also reduced people's policy support in favour of scientific consensus, and forewarning had minimal effect. Discussion: We discuss the implications of our findings for efforts to mitigate the fake debate strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Legal & Criminological Psychology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=190718681
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1111/lcrp.70004
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 19
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      – SubjectFull: Consensus (Social sciences)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Warnings
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social processes
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      – SubjectFull: Lie detectors & detection
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      – SubjectFull: Cognitive bias
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      – SubjectFull: Communication strategies
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      – TitleFull: Fore! Does forewarning inoculate people against the false balance effect?
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              M: 02
              Text: Feb2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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