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The literature on misinformation has not provided sufficient empirical evidence concerning its political consequences. To amend this trend, this study examines how widespread misinformation on social media elevates political cynicism, which has peaked over the past decade in the United States. Using two-wave survey data collected both before and after the 2020 US presidential election, we present evidence that social media use triggers political cynicism, which is mediated through exposure to misinformation. In addition, the results reveal that the mediating relationship only holds among nonpartisans. Implications for democracy are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a fast-growing body of literature on fake news and mis-/disinformation, there remains surprisingly little empirical work on the social/political consequences of exposure to false information. Addressing this issue, this study provides initial evidence that perceptions of false information exposure catalyze political cynicism. The findings from a two-wave panel survey during the 2018 US midterm elections reveal that perceptions of false information exposure 2 weeks before the election significantly predict the changes in political cynicism immediately after the election day. We also find that social media news use in Wave 1 significantly relates to political cynicism in Wave 2 indirectly through perceptions of mis-/disinformation exposure. The autoregressive regression model indicates that our findings are robust after controlling for prior levels of cynicism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]