ABSTRACT
Misinformation, a dangerous coercive tool, poses a significant and global risk to modern society. Misinformation has the potential to coerce individuals, not through threat or force, but instead by means of deception, manipulation of information, and trust manipulations. This chapter explores the issue of misinformation and conducts a review of psychological literature to shed light on how individuals can be coerced by misinformation. It specifically focuses on the amalgamation of various psychological theories to comprehend the psychological pathways through which misinformation-driven coercion occurs and introduces the novel framework “A Psychological Framework of Misinformation-Driven Coercion and Trust”. Finally, it highlights how theories of resisting persuasion (inoculation theory) can be used to understand how these coercion attempts might be prevented.
