Washington: Belief systems that people develop early in life to help protect against the anxiety and stress of an uncertain world may help explain why some individuals fall victim to 'fake news', scientists say.The key to people's accepting fake news as true, despite evidence to the contrary, is a phenomenon known as confirmation bias, or the tendency for people to seek and accept information that confirms their existing beliefs while rejecting or ignoring that which contradicts those beliefs, researchers said.

Many of these beliefs and biases are formed early in life when children begin to distinguish between fantasy and reality, according to Eve Whitmore, a developmental psychologist with Western Reserve Psychological Associates in the US. "At its core is the need for the brain to receive confirming information that harmonizes with an individual's existing views and beliefs," said Mark Whitmore, an assistant professor at Kent State University in the US.