Identifying individual differences in deepfake discernment: the effects of cognitive disposition and visual literacy

Deepfakes are a novel and technologically advanced form of disinformation, the adverse effects of which are becoming increasingly prominent. This study, based on an online survey (N = 516), explores how individual differences, specifically cognitive disposition and visual literacy, affect the ability to discern deepfake videos. Thematic analysis was also conducted to cluster the criteria individuals use to judge the credibility of such videos. The results suggest that participants primarily identified fake videos by scrutinizing evidence of illogical content and traces of manipulation. Moreover, the cognitive disposition to trust intuition resulted in a tendency to overlook illogical content, negatively impacting deepfake discernment. In contrast, individuals with higher interpretive visual literacy were more likely to detect illogical content and identify deepfake videos. The findings of our study are important for guiding visual literacy interventions and developing strategies to improve the public’s resistance to harmful deepfakes.