A small fraction of online actors exerts outsized influence over what the public sees, believes, and discusses. In a new paper, we trace how social media influencers turn fringe claims into viral narratives by exploiting a feedback loop between influencers, algorithms & crowds
osf.io/preprints/ps...
๐Introducing ๐๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐: A reporting checklist for using LLMs in behavioral & social science
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GUIDE-LLM is a reporting checklist designed by 80+ experts to improve transparency, reproducibility & ethical accountability of LLM-based research
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The very factors that make AI an effective tool for truth-seeking (such as its ability to provide instant, targeted facts and evidence) may also make it an effective tool for providing custom rationalizations.
People can now receive instant, detailed, on-demand rationalizations of their bespoke realities from generative AI.
In other words, AI may serve as a powerful rationalization machine, generating elaborate justifications for what people already (or wish to) believe.
AI might provide more opportunities than past technologies for people to have their beliefs confirmed. While people may have only had a handful of television channels or online communities to choose from, they can now have hyper-specific and idiosyncratic beliefs validated.
๐จ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ ๐จ
AI can be an excellent tool for truth-seeking. But people may not *want* to use AI to search for the truth. Instead, they may prefer to use it to confirm their pre-existing beliefs.
New working paper (with @jayvanbavel.bsky.social): osf.io/preprints/ps...
Will AI become a confirmation bias machine?
AI can be a powerful tool for truth-seeking. Yet, people might prefer to use AI to confirm their pre-existing beliefs, and features of AI systems (eg sycophancy) may make AI effective at justifying what people want to believe.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
As Andy thoughtfully explains, certain technologies may be new, but our psychology isn't, and decades of psychology research can be used to explain questions like what goes viral online and why people enjoy sycophantic chatbots.
Really enjoyed speaking with @andyluttrell.bsky.social about the psychology of technology after appearing on his podcast a few years ago to discuss science communication.
This month on Opinion Science, I talk with @steverathje.bsky.social about his research on the "psychology of technology." We cover the predictors of what goes viral online and the allure and influence of agreeable AI chatbots.
In my latest podcast episode, I discuss the psychology of virality with @steverathje.bsky.social, explore how agreeable AI chatbots may influence our beliefs, and examine how scientists can communicate effectively in a noisy, polarized media environment.
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/the-psycho...
Enjoyed talking with @sudkrc.bsky.social on one of my favorite podcasts, the Stanford Psychology Podcast! We discuss how I got into psychology (it all began at Stanford), my recent work on the psychology of virality and sycophantic AI, and much more.
NEW EPISODE OUT๐ฃ๏ธ!! In this episode, Su @sudkrc.bsky.social chats with Dr. Steve Rathje @steverathje.bsky.social on why certain content spreads rapidly online and offline! LISTEN NOW๐ง: open.spotify.com/episode/7CoK...
"Using 'virality' as the main way to decide the information people see every day will (like actual viruses) make us sick."
@jayvanbavel.bsky.social and I wrote a column on our recent paper on the psychology of virality. Check it out here: www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/why-some-i...
While studies find that moral outrage & negativity goes viral on social media, this is also true of the offline world. Gossip is also mostly negative & about people we dislike
I explain why some ideas go viral--but most don't with @steverathje.bsky.social
www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/why-some-i...
๐จ New working paper ๐จ
Can LLMs with reasoning + web search reliably fact-check political claims?
We evaluated 15 models from OpenAI, Google, Meta, and DeepSeek on 6,000+ PolitiFact claims (2007โ2024).
Short answer: Not reliablyโunless you give them curated evidence.
arxiv.org/abs/2511.18749
New research by @steverathje.bsky.social et al
Epistemic Fragility in Large Language Models: Prompt Framing Systematically Modulates Misinformation Correction
WGemini 2.5 Pro had 74% lower odds of strong correction than Claude Sonnet 4.5, highlighting epistemic fragility
arxiv.org/pdf/2511.22746
Are you curious about the results of our #wisdomturingtest? Want to find out who was the AI? If so, tune-in to the second part of the ON WISDOM podcast on the "Wisdom Turing Test," with the amazing @steverathje.bsky.social : onwisdompodcast.fireside.fm/67
#TuringTest #ChineseRoom #AIsycophancy
Abstract and results summary
๐จ New preprint ๐จ
Across 3 experiments (n = 3,285), we found that interacting with sycophantic (or overly agreeable) AI chatbots entrenched attitudes and led to inflated self-perceptions.
Yet, people preferred sycophantic chatbots and viewed them as unbiased!
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Thread ๐งต
โจNew preprint! Why do people express outrage online? In 4 studies we develop a taxonomy of online outrage motives, test what motives people report, what they infer for in- vs. out-partisans, and how motive inferences shape downstream intergroup consequences. Led by @felix-chenwei.bsky.social ๐งต๐
Really enjoyed speaking with tech ethicist Tristan Harris, who you might know from the Netflix documentary "The Social Dilemma" or his work with the Center for Humane Technology.
๐ฅ Watch here on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFm3...
๐ง Listen on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0Oi6...
The Science Behind Why Social Media Makes Us Miserable
I was on the @andrew-yang.bsky.social podcast to discuss the impact of social media.
We discussed what goes viral online, how it impacts our lives, and what we can do about it (with @steverathje.bsky.social):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrDV...
What do 92% of scientists agree on regarding social media and smartphone use? blog.andrewyang.com/p/the-scienc...
Really enjoyed talking with @andrew-yang.bsky.social and @jayvanbavel.bsky.social about the science of social media. Thanks for having us on your podcast, @andrew-yang.bsky.social
Why does online content seem so angry and emotional? Professors @jayvanbavel.bsky.social and @steverathje.bsky.social join andrewyang.com/podcast to talk the science of social media including why polarization gets revved up by a tiny percentage of accounts.
Why do some ideas spread widely, while others fail to catch on?
Our new review paper on the PSYCHOLOGY OF VIRALITY is now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social (it was led by @steverathje.bsky.social)
Read the full paper here: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
๐ Read the full issue here: cell.com/trends/cogni...
๐ Our article here: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
๐ And the pre-print here: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Our recent review article "The Psychology of Virality" with @jayvanbavel.bsky.social
is on the front cover of this month's issue of
@cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social.
Would you notice if Gemini or ChatGPT was just flattering you?
Read @steverathje.bsky.social's new preprint to learn about how people actually feel towards overly agreeable chatbots.
OSF: osf.io/preprints/ps...
(summary in thread below!)
