Je Hoon Chae

I am a graduate student at UCLA pursuing a Ph.D. in Communication and an M.S. in Statistics concurrently. Prior to this, I studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Yonsei University.

Substantively, my research focuses on the dissemination of political (mis)information via media to citizens, and its implications for their competences as participants in a democratic society. This area of interest intersects with various fields such as political communication, political psychology, public opinion, and the study of misinformation. Methodologically, my empirical strategies primarily aim to quantitatively elucidate the causal relationships between variables. For the purpose, I draw upon various sources of data, not limited to survey responses but also inclusive of unstructured data such as text, image, and audio. As such, my work can be characterized as residing at the intersection of computational social science and causal inference.

For further information, kindly refer to my CV. Additionally, if you are around LA or attending a conference where I am presenting (see the recent news), we can grab a coffee. I am very open to discussing studies and potential collaborations!

Recent news

Publications

• Perceiving AI Intervention Does Not Compromise the Persuasive Effect of Fact-Checking, New Media & Society (2024; Advance online publication). [OSF Pre-Registration] [Top Paper Award at NCA'2024]
  Authors: Je Hoon Chae, David Tewksbury
  Abstract

  Efforts to scale up fact-checking through technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), are increasingly being suggested and tested. This study examines whether previously observed effects of reading fact-checks remain constant when readers are aware of AI’s involvement in the fact-checking process. We conducted three online experiments (N = 3,978), exposing participants to fact-checks identified as either human-generated or AI-assisted, simulating cases where AI fully generates the fact-check or automatically retrieves human fact-checks. Our findings indicate that the persuasive effect of fact-checking, specifically in increasing truth discernment, persists even among participants without a positive prior attitude toward AI. Additionally, in some cases, awareness of AI’s role reduced perceived political bias in fact-checks among Republicans. Finally, neither AI-generated nor human fact-checks significantly affected participants’ feelings toward or their perceptions of the competence of the targeted politicians.

• Perceiving as Biased But Nevertheless Persuaded? Effects of Fact–Checking News Delivered by Partisan Media, Political Psychology, Vol. 45, No. 1 (2024): 69-89. [OSF Pre-Registration] [GitHub Repository]
  Authors: Je Hoon Chae, Sang Yup Lee, Hyunjin Song
  
  Abstract

  The effectiveness of and its boundary conditions regarding fact–checking news exposure have significant normative and practical implications. While many of the prior studies have focused on the attitudinal consequences of fact–checking news delivered by neutral third parties such as fact–check organizations, relatively less is known as to the effect of fact–checking news delivered by partisan media. Based on the frameworks of motivated reasoning and the hostile-media effect, we investigate the possibility of decoupling between attitudinal persuasion and perceptual backfire by fact–checking news by partisan media—that is, exposure to fact–checking news increases bias perception of such news yet nevertheless attitudinally persuades audiences. Based on a series of original experiments conducted in South Korea and in the United States, we find consistent support for our prediction, in that exposure to fact–checking news produces the corrective effects, yet at the same time perceived bias of the fact–checking news systematically varies as a function of the ideological slant of partisan media.

Travel

“Going up a mountain track, I fell to thinking.

Approach everything rationally, and you become harsh. Pole along in the stream of emotions, and you will be swept away by the current. Give free rein to your desires, and you become uncomfortably confined. It is not a very agreeable place to live, this world of ours.

When the unpleasantness increases, you want to draw yourself up to some place where life is easier. It is just at the point when you first realise that life will be no more agreeable no matter what heights you may attain, that a poem may be given birth, or a picture created.”

— Natsume Sōseki, “Kusamakura”