The Immediate and Delayed Beliefs in Headlines With High-arousal Sentence Starters

Emotionally charged messages can distort truth perception, and recent research highlights the impact of emotional language on news beliefs. While past studies have focused on emotional valence, the role of emotional arousal in shaping beliefs remains underexplored, particularly regarding its long-term effects. This research investigates both immediate and delayed beliefs in response to headlines with high-arousal sentence starters (HASS), such as “Shocking!.” Across five longitudinal experiments ( N immediate = 1,329; N delayed = 687), including two preregistered studies and a mini meta-analysis, we found that HASS initially suppresses belief. However, this effect diminishes over time, leading to a rebound in belief. These findings underscore the importance of emotional language in truth perception and suggest that practitioners should exercise caution when employing HASS in communication strategies.