This headline will subtly mislead you and science says that probably matters

News articles with headlines that subtly misleading but are not actually incorrect can affect readers' memories, according to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

The research found that misleading headlines can lead to "misconceptions and misinformed behavioural intentions".

In 'The Effects of Subtle Misinformation in News Headlines' researchers used two types of articles - factual ones discussing statistics such as crime rates and opinion pieces which highlighted someone disagreeing with an expert.

The study concludes "a headline can be used to cast someone in a dubious light even when every word in both the headline and the accompanying article is accurate".

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HT the Science of Us