Illusion-of-Truth to Backfire Effect

When repetition is used as a persuasive strategy, we are being constantly exposed to the same message in order to believe it. The illusory truth effect, a direct result of implicit memory is to lead to unconscious decisions, to the acceptance of whatever is being served on the platter of veracity.

Research seems to confirm, that the unconscious processing impacts human judgments and attitudes; the higher “true” ratings are obtained through repetition. The results are so encouraging for wannabe chiselers in politics, advertising and the media that the supposedly “gullible crowd” is perpetually bombarded with the most fallacious and ludicrous arguments. Unfortunately for the charlatans, the illusion-of –truth effect quickly achromatizes if the arguments are dubious, and disappears when people start to focus on the apparent inconsistency between information and the reality. In political regimes, botched indoctrination is given a boost by astroturfing: masking the original source of the messages and pretending that the “enthusiastic support” for an ideology comes from members of the public. The loudest voice becomes the only audible version of events, and it is presented as the opinion of the majority. Whenever these allegedly invisible threads of dictatorship come to light, the endangered rulers resolve to force feeding with propaganda and implementing coercive strategies in order to suppress dissent and freedom of speech.

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Ironically, their efforts cause the backfire effect; people react to unsubstantiated and disconfirming evidence by strengthening their beliefs and resistance against arrogance of power. The backfire effect usually has a gradual onset but it consequently leads to a demonstration of discontent and eventually, imposes changes. In the case of Romanian leader Ceausescu, one botched speech too many culminated in the violent end of a 42 years long Communist rule. It’s noteworthy, that during the period of social unrest people turned their anger not only against the politicians and the Securitate police, but also against the symbiotic pro-government media. The fact that a politician continues to impose his ideology and creates a destructive metamorphosis means a gain of time through the temporary illusory truth effect and large doses of coercion, but not a victory. If the administration of Barack Hussain Obama brought something neoteric to the pre-existing history of manipulation, it is the fact that the leader himself seems to be a personification of the illusion-of-truth effect. In a hurry to realize his agenda, Obama reaches for more and more coercive measures and bulldozes protests with executive orders. Looking back through the history, political leaders unwilling to acknowledge the growing dissent chose to focus on the illusory truth effect, arrogantly ignoring the consequences. The illusion-of-the truth leads to the backfire effect. It is not a question of “if”, but “when”.