Participants were shown retracted news stories that either supported or contradicted their personal views. The participants were then asked whether they believed that the story was retracted because the story contained false information due to an honest mistake or due to intentional deception. Both Republicans and Democrats indicated that they believed that the news media was intentionally deceptive.

Those who had a high Personal Need for Structure were more likely to attribute the retraction to intentional deceit, even when the news story supported their own views.