Aligning Reality Through Tri‐RealitY: Reconceptualizing Information Acceptance and Cognitive Alignment

This study proposes the Tri‐RealitY framework(TRY), an innovative framework for examining how individuals cognitively interpret and respond to inconsistent or ambiguous information. Integrating incongruity theory, the framework identifies three dimensions influencing how individuals cognitively interpret information: General Reality (grounded in common knowledge), Contextual Reality (guided by situational cues), and Ideological Reality (shaped by personal beliefs and social identities). We argued that when individuals encounter inconsistent or ambiguous information, they engage in compensatory cognitive processes across these dimensions to restore interpretative coherence. Successful compensation can lead to the acceptance of contradictory messages, whereas unsuccessful compensation results in disbelief or rejection. Rather than defining misinformation solely by sender intent or factual accuracy, the TRY framework can help reconceptualize misinformation as information with high potential for multiple script interpretations, emphasizing that interpretations of misinformation vary by context and reflect current socio‐cognitive dynamics.