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A new study from researchers at Ohio State University suggests American conservatives are more likely than liberals to fall for political misinformation that circulates on social media.

The driving force? False information skews to favor Republicans, and the confirmation bias we all experience makes them more inclined to believe it.

The studypublished this week andauthored by Ohio State professors Kelly Garrett and Robert Bond found conservatives were more prone to accept falsehoods, less inclined to believe true statements and less able totell the difference between truth and lies.

For example, 41% of Republicans believed thefalse claim that Hillary Clinton colluded with Russia and sold partof the U.S. uranium supply in exchange for donations to the Clinton Foundation. Just 2% of Democrats said it was true.

Researchers distilled both true and false claims from viral news stories on social media and asked around 1,200 participants to assess them. Sources included major news networks, partisan news sources and satirical news sites such as The Onion and The Babylon Bee.

The survey took place over six months in 2019, meaning it predated the onslaught of misinformation peddled by politicians and social media users during the 2020 election cycle.

"Holding accurate political knowledge is fundamental to democracy, and ideological differences in citizens understanding of empirical evidence about politically important topics are potentially destabilizing to democracy itself," the authors wrote. "Effective decision-making depends on having a common understanding of the reality to which citizens and lawmakers must collectively respond."

Separately, groups of five Republicans and five Democratsrecruited online classified the 240 statements used in the studyas being better for one party or neutral. Of those, about 45% of the false claims were considered to benefit Republicans while 23% benefited Democrats.

One false statement that favored Republicans said British protesters were stockpiling human urine and plannedto douse former President Donald Trump with it during hisvisit to the U.K. A false statement that a Georgianew abortion bill requiredan investigation of any woman who miscarries was seen as benefiting Democrats.

Meanwhile, the majority of true claims 65% were seen as benefiting Democrats compared to just 10% benefiting Republicans.

Read the full study:Conservatives susceptibility to political misperceptions

Garrett said the study doesn't necessarily prove that conservatives are more biased than liberals, because all participants believed statements that boosted their political party and rejected those that didn't. But claims that benefitedRepublicans were more likely to be false, while true statements frequently furthered Democratic interests.

Thisputs conservatives at a disadvantage because they're ultimately exposed to more misinformation, Garrett said, and confirmation bias makes them more inclined to buy what they see. It's not clear why false information is more favorable toRepublicans.

"Conservatives consistently poor performance in distinguishing truths from falsehoods appears to be largely explained by the fact that widely shared falsehoods were systematically more supportive of conservatives political positions," the authors wrote.

Garrett said it's important for news organizations to continue fact checking and encouraged people to think critically about the content they share on social media. The study also called on policymakers and technology companies to find ways to guard against misinformation.

Haley BeMilleris a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

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OSU study: Conservatives more susceptible to misinformation than liberals - The Columbus Dispatch