The continued influence effect refers to continuing to rely on misinformation in their reasoning even if the information has been retracted; study of impact of retraction source credibility on this effect

Ecker, Ullrich K. H., and Luke Antonio. 2020. “Can You Believe It? an Investigation into the Impact of Retraction Source Credibility on the Continued Influence Effect.” PsyArXiv. August 20

Abstract: The continued influence effect refers to the finding that people often continue to rely on misinformation in their reasoning even if the information has been retracted. The present study aimed to investigate the extent to which the effectiveness of a retraction is determined by its credibility. In particular, we aimed to scrutinize previous findings suggesting that perceived trustworthiness but not perceived expertise of the retraction source determines a retraction’s effectiveness, and that continued influence arises only if a retraction is not believed. In two experiments, we found that indeed source trustworthiness but not source expertise influences retraction effectiveness, with retractions from low-trustworthiness sources entirely ineffective. We also found that retraction belief is indeed a predictor of continued reliance on misinformation, but that substantial continued influence effects can still occur with retractions designed to be and rated as highly credible.