Disinformation research has proliferated in reaction to widespread false, problematic beliefs purported to explain major social phenomena. Yet while the effects of disinformation are well-known, there is less consensus about its causes; the research spans several disciplines, each focusing on different pieces. This article contributes to this growing field by reviewing prevalent U.S. disinformation discourse (academic writing, media, and corporate and government narrative) and outlining the dominant understanding, or paradigm, of the disinformation problem by analyzing cross-disciplinary discourse about the content, individual, group, and institutional layers of the problem. The result is an individualistic explanation largely blaming social media, malicious individuals or nations, and irrational people. Yet this understanding has shortcomings: notably, that its limited, individualistic views of truth and rationality obscures the influence of oppressive ideologies and media or domestic actors in creating flawed worldviews and spreading disinformation. The article then concludes by putting forth an alternative, sociopolitical paradigm that allows subjective models of the world to govern rationality and information processing -- largely informed by social and group identity -- which are being formed and catered to by institutional actors (corporations, media, political parties, and the government) to maintain or gain legitimacy for their actions.

翻译：摘要：针对据称能解释重大社会现象的广泛存在的错误、有问题的信念，虚假信息研究迅速兴起。然而，尽管虚假信息的影响广为人知，但其成因却缺乏共识；相关研究跨越多个学科，各学科聚焦不同层面。本文通过梳理美国主流虚假信息话语（包括学术著作、媒体以及企业和政府叙事），并分析围绕该问题的内容、个体、群体和制度层面的跨学科话语，勾勒出对虚假信息问题的主流理解或范式，从而为该领域做出贡献。其结果呈现出一种个体主义解释，主要归咎于社交媒体、恶意个体或国家以及非理性人群。然而，这种理解存在不足：其关于真理和理性的狭隘个体主义观点，掩盖了压迫性意识形态以及媒体或国内行为者在制造有缺陷的世界观和传播虚假信息方面的影响。最后，本文提出一种替代性社会政治范式，该范式允许以世界的主观模型（主要由社会与群体身份塑造）来支配理性与信息处理，而这些模型正被制度行为者（企业、媒体、政党和政府）塑造并迎合，以维持或获取其行为的合法性。