# The Psychology of Falsehood: A Human-Centric Survey of Misinformation Detection

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.15896 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.15896/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 57 of its 125 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 19 Sep 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 57)

- [ReAct: Synergizing Reasoning and Acting in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.03629/) (2022)
- [Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03442/) (2023)
- [Longformer: The Long-Document Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.05150/) (2020)
- [World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.10122/) (2018)
- [FEVER: a large-scale dataset for Fact Extraction and VERification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.05355/) (2018)
- [FActScore: Fine-grained Atomic Evaluation of Factual Precision in Long Form Text Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.14251/) (2023)
- [ChatDev: Communicative Agents for Software Development](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.07924/) (2023)
- [A Survey on Automated Fact-Checking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.11896/) (2021)
- [Fact-Checking Complex Claims with Program-Guided Reasoning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.12744/) (2023)
- [AVeriTeC: A Dataset for Real-world Claim Verification with Evidence from the Web](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.13117/) (2023)
- [Complex Claim Verification with Evidence Retrieved in the Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.11859/) (2023)
- [The Earth is Flat because...: Investigating LLMs' Belief towards Misinformation via Persuasive Conversation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.09085/) (2023)
- [Fighting an Infodemic: COVID-19 Fake News Dataset](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.03327/) (2020)
- [A Survey on Stance Detection for Mis- and Disinformation Identification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00242/) (2021)
- [Fake News in Sheep's Clothing: Robust Fake News Detection Against LLM-Empowered Style Attacks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.10830/) (2023)
- [Generating Literal and Implied Subquestions to Fact-check Complex Claims](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.06938/) (2022)
- [DialFact: A Benchmark for Fact-Checking in Dialogue](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.08222/) (2021)
- [Generating Scientific Claims for Zero-Shot Scientific Fact Checking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.12990/) (2022)
- [Scientific Fact-Checking: A Survey of Resources and Approaches](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16859/) (2023)
- [ProoFVer: Natural Logic Theorem Proving for Fact Verification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.11357/) (2021)
- [Multimodal Automated Fact-Checking: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.13507/) (2023)
- [Missing Counter-Evidence Renders NLP Fact-Checking Unrealistic for Misinformation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.13865/) (2022)
- [Claim Matching Beyond English to Scale Global Fact-Checking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.00853/) (2021)
- [DELL: Generating Reactions and Explanations for LLM-Based Misinformation Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.10426/) (2024)
- [AmbiFC: Fact-Checking Ambiguous Claims with Evidence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.00640/) (2021)
- [Language Models Hallucinate, but May Excel at Fact Verification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.14564/) (2023)
- [Claim Detection for Automated Fact-checking: A Survey on Monolingual, Multilingual and Cross-Lingual Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.11969/) (2024)
- [AFaCTA: Assisting the Annotation of Factual Claim Detection with Reliable LLM Annotators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.11073/) (2024)
- [Varifocal Question Generation for Fact-checking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.12400/) (2022)
- [Investigating Implicit Bias in Large Language Models: A Large-Scale Study of Over 50 LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.12864/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Interactive Narrative Analytics: Bridging Computational Narrative Extraction and Human Sensemaking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.11459/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Misinformation remains one of the most significant issues in the digital age. While automated fact-checking has emerged as a viable solution, most current systems are limited to evaluating factual accuracy. However, the detrimental effect of misinformation transcends simple falsehoods; it takes advantage of how individuals perceive, interpret, and emotionally react to information. This underscores the need to move beyond factuality and adopt more human-centered detection frameworks. In this survey, we explore the evolving interplay between traditional fact-checking approaches and psychological concepts such as cognitive biases, social dynamics, and emotional responses. By analyzing state-of-the-art misinformation detection systems through the lens of human psychology and behavior, we reveal critical limitations of current methods and identify opportunities for improvement. Additionally, we outline future research directions aimed at creating more robust and adaptive frameworks, such as neuro-behavioural models that integrate technological factors with the complexities of human cognition and social influence. These approaches offer promising pathways to more effectively detect and mitigate the societal harms of misinformation.