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cognition
You trust information more when it is easier read.
A 2008 study found that simple, easy-to-read fonts make statements seem more factual and credible.
The brain interprets cognitive ease—the feeling of smooth processing—as a signal of truth. When information is aesthetically simple, your mind bypasses critical scrutiny because it feels familiar and low-effort to consume.
You mistake clarity for veracity.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Song and Schwarz, 2008
- What the check found
- The 2008 study 'If It’s Hard to Read, It’s Hard to Do' by Song and Schwarz successfully established that processing fluency—often manipulated via font legibility—influences truth judgments.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.