The Presumed Influence of COVID-19 Misinformation on Social Media: Survey Research from Two Countries in the Global Health Crisis

The Presumed Influence of COVID-19 Misinformation on Social Media: Survey Research from Two Countries in the Global Health Crisis

While the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is spreading all over the world, misinformation, without prudent journalistic judgments of media content online, has begun circulating rapidly and influencing public opinion on social media. This quantitative study intends to advance the previous misinf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-05, Vol.18 (11), p.5505
Main Authors: Luo, Yunjuan, Cheng, Yang
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
Anxiety
Behavior
China
Communication
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Digital media
Disease prevention
Emotions
False information
Global Health
Humans
Medical research
Pandemics
Polls & surveys
Public health
Public opinion
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Social Media
Social networks
United States
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Summary:While the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is spreading all over the world, misinformation, without prudent journalistic judgments of media content online, has begun circulating rapidly and influencing public opinion on social media. This quantitative study intends to advance the previous misinformation research by proposing and examining a theoretical model following an "influence of presumed influence" perspective. Two survey studies were conducted on participants located in the United States (N = 1793) and China (N = 504), respectively, to test the applicability of the influence of presumed influence theory. Results indicated that anger and anxiety significantly predicted perceived influence of misinformation on others; presumed influence on others positively affected public support in corrective and restrictive actions in both U.S. and China. Further, anger toward misinformation led to public willingness to self-correct in the U.S. and China. In contrast, anxiety only took effects in facilitating public support for restrictive actions in the U.S. This study conducted survey research in China and the U.S. to expand the influence of presumed influence (IPI) hypothesis to digital misinformation in both Western and non-Western contexts. This research provides implications for social media companies and policy makers to combat misinformation online.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601