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Doing the Impossible: Dealing with False Beliefs

Filippovska, Yuliya
http://orcid.org/0009-0003-3311-2586
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1719249363351139

Abstract Details

2024, Ph.D., Antioch University, Leadership and Change.
Fighting false information, propaganda, open lies, rumors, misinformation, and disinformation by attacking it directly and challenging it is the dominant strategy for dealing with false beliefs (Lazer et al., 2018; Maseri et al., 2020; Van Bavel et al., 2021), and it is an important one. Refuting falsity is crucial. At the same time, there are instances when fighting false information does not work (Ardèvol-Abreu et al., 2020; McIntyre, 2018; Van Bavel et al., 2021). One of the reasons is that it denies another’s worldview, belief systems, and, as a result, their identity and even right to exist. Searching for alternative strategies for dealing with falsity, this study used qualitative research methodology and conducted three focus group discussions. My research findings show that identifying and framing a narrative behind falsity shifts the dynamic from facts to interaction, from fighting to beginning relationships to that narrative, and potentially people who stand for it, consciously or unconsciously. It allows one to find a belief system and a worldview of the other, and to engage and interact with it. Thus, there is a shift from finding who is telling the truth or lies to providing space for various belief systems and worldviews to interact with each other. Making this shift changes the power dynamic and empowers human beings to stop being simply victims of falsity and gain agency. My research also shows that there is a high need for talent and skills to hold polarities and different narratives, allowing them to co-exist and not deny each other, facilitating unpredictable and unimaginable ways to interact with each other, and bring more flow into communication instead of distancing even further. Finding narratives behind falsity and holding the opposite stories allow one to see falsity as not just an absolute evil, but potentially meaningful, transforming it into an opportunity for community-building processes and for people to work on different narratives together before existing splits, greater distancing and polarizations grow into yet another violence and wars. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).
Christopher Voparil, PhD (Committee Chair)
Jennifer Raymond, PhD (Committee Member)
Nader Robert Shabahangi, PhD (Committee Member)
146 p.
Behavioral Sciences; Communication; Information Science; Journalism; Mass Communications; Social Research
false information; propaganda; fake news; misinformation; disinformation; narratives; empowerment; fighting false information; facts; truth

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Filippovska, Y. (2024). Doing the Impossible: Dealing with False Beliefs [Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1719249363351139

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Filippovska, Yuliya. Doing the Impossible: Dealing with False Beliefs. 2024. Antioch University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1719249363351139.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Filippovska, Yuliya. "Doing the Impossible: Dealing with False Beliefs." Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1719249363351139

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

antioch1719249363351139
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© 2024, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Antioch University and OhioLINK.