Perception of truth and information sharing in second language

This study investigates how repetition-induced truth effect, varies over time and across different languages, and whether perceived truth influences willingness to share information. The experimental study included 99 native Turkish speakers with advanced proficiency in Arabic. Participants were randomly assigned to either a Turkish or an Arabic language condition. Truth evaluations were taken both immediately after exposure and again after two weeks. In both sessions, participants were exposed to both repeated and new statements. They rated the information as either true or false, along with whether they would share the information on social media. Participants also completed the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) and the Stroop Test to see whether individual differences would affect the results. Arabic proficiency was assessed through both self-report and an Arabic word–picture matching task. The findings show that repeated statements were rated as true more than new statements. Truth effect was more pronounced in the Turkish condition, whereas in the Arabic condition, the difference between repeated and new statements was smaller across both sessions. In the second session, the difference between new and repeated items was smaller due to the higher true ratings to new statements. Sharing behavior did not directly follow truth judgments; repetition had no significant effect on willingness to share. However, repeated statements were more likely to be shared in the Turkish condition, while new statements were shared more in the Arabic condition. Additionally, an overall increase in sharing behavior was observed in the second session. These findings suggest that the perceived truth induced by repetition may diminish over time when information is exposed in a foreign language. The results contribute to the truth effect literature and offer insights into how language and repetition influence our engagement with information on social media.