The illusion of consensus with multiple exposures

Previous work has shown that people often struggle to differentiate between the epistemic weight attached to independent consensus (where multiple individuals independently endorse a claim) and dependent consensus (where a claim from a single source is repeated multiple times). However, this research has typically only studied small numbers of exposures to / repetitions of a claim. This study aims to advance understanding of peoples' sensitivity to independent vs. dependent consensus by examining belief in a claim after exposure to testimony by large numbers of independent vs dependent sources (i.e. up to ten endorsements). We will study this issue with negatively valenced testimony (i.e. where the majority of endorsements express a negative view about a claim). The study will be carried out using a mock social-media paradigm.