The truth about the truth: a meta-analytic review of the truth effect
Abstract
Repetition has been shown to increase subjective truth ratings of trivia statements. This truth effect can be measured in two ways: (a) as the increase in subjective truth from the first to the second encounter ( within-items criterion) and (b) as the difference in truth ratings between repeated and other new statements ( between-items criterion). Qualitative differences are assumed between the processes underlying both criteria. A meta-analysis of the truth effect was conducted that compared the two criteria. In all, 51 studies of the repetition-induced truth effect were included in the analysis. Results indicate that the between-items effect is larger than the within-items effect. Moderator analyses reveal that several moderators affect both effects differentially. This lends support to the notion that different psychological comparison processes may underlie the two effects. The results are discussed within the processing fluency account of the truth effect.
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Repeating myths might contribute to increasing their acceptance due to their perceived familiarity.
“However, repeating myths might contribute to increasing their acceptance due to their perceived familiarity [22, 23, 24].”
From Misinformation lingers in memory: Failure of three pro-vaccination strategies (2017) · cites this paper as [23]
People tend to mistake repetition for truth, a phenomenon known as the "illusory truth" effect.
“This happens, at least partly, because people tend to mistake repetition for truth, a phenomenon known as the “illusory truth” effect [22, 23].”
From Misinformation lingers in memory: Failure of three pro-vaccination strategies (2017) · cites this paper as [23]
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- Authors
- Dechêne, A., Stahl, C., Hansen, J., & Wänke, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Basel (CH)
- University of Freiburg (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Dechêne, Alice
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2009-12-18
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 238-257
- ISSN
- 1088-8683 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7957
- OpenAlex
- W2122617296
- Semantic Scholar
- 3a37a0a8ae8e464fac13aceb53dc2a63dcbd0969
- Cited by
- 592
- References
- 89
- Citations by year
- 2026: 59 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 56 · 2023: 75 · 2022: 65 · 2021: 57 · 2020: 60 · 2019: 63 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 0.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Personality and Social Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Deception detection and forensic psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- truth effect, repetition, processing fluency, comparison processes
- MeSH terms
- Cognition, Communication, Humans, Judgment, Memory, Truth Disclosure, Trust
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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