10.7910/DVN/S4KL5YFort, KaraKaraFort0009-0009-7963-8026Ohio State UniversityShulman, HillaryHillaryShulman0000-0001-7525-8119Bond, RobertRobertBond0000-0002-5026-2186Nisbet, ErikErikNisbet0000-0001-7030-6361Garrett, R. KellyR. KellyGarrett0000-0001-7022-7452Harvard Dataverse2026Social SciencesEpistemic BeliefsSignal Detection TheoryMisperceptionsMisinformationGarrett, KellyKellyGarrettOhio State University2026-05-292026-06-0213745265application/zip1.0CC0 1.0Abstract: To what extent do individuals’ abilities to discern true from false information depend on their beliefs about the nature of knowledge? Although epistemic beliefs have been linked to misperceptions, they have rarely been treated as central explanatory factors. Instead, prior work has emphasized factors such as cognitive sophistication, motivated reasoning, and the information environment. Across three studies with large, demographically diverse U.S. samples, we assess beliefs about several hundred true and false factual real-world claims selected over several months. We use a signal detection framework to separate discrimination ability from response bias. Epistemic beliefs, including valuing evidence, reliance on intuition, and beliefs about whether truth is political, were consistently associated with both outcomes. These results suggest that belief accuracy reflects not only cognitive or motivational factors, but more fundamental differences in epistemic beliefs, positioning these as a core framework for understanding judgment accuracy and misinformation.