Song Hayeon, So Jiyeon, Shim Minsun, Kim Jieun, Kim Eunji, Lee Kyungha
Department of Human-AI Interaction, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea.
Department of Communication, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea.
Comput Human Behav. 2023 Jan;138:107439. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2022.107439. Epub 2022 Aug 11.
Given the amount of misinformation being circulated on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential threat to public health, it is imperative to investigate ways to hinder its transmission. To this end, this study aimed to identify message features that may contribute to misinformation sharing on social media. Based on the theory of social sharing of emotion and the extant research on message credibility, this study examined if emotions and message credibility serve as mechanisms through which novelty and efficacy of misinformation influence sharing intention. An online experiment concerning COVID-19 misinformation was conducted by employing a 2 (novelty conditions: high vs. low) × 2 (efficacy conditions: high vs. low) between-subjects design using a national quota sample in South Korea ( = 1,012). The findings suggested that, contrary to the expectation, the overall effects of novelty on sharing intention were negative. The specific mechanisms played significant and unique roles in different directions: novelty increased sharing intention by evoking surprise, while also exerting a negative influence on sharing intention through an increase in negative emotions and a decrease in positive emotions and message credibility. Consistent with the expectation, efficacy exhibited positive total effects on sharing intention, which was explained by higher levels of (self- and response-) efficacy of protective action increasing positive emotions and message credibility but decreasing negative emotions. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.
鉴于在新冠疫情期间社交媒体上流传的大量错误信息及其对公众健康的潜在威胁，研究如何阻碍其传播势在必行。为此，本研究旨在确定可能导致社交媒体上错误信息传播的信息特征。基于情感的社会分享理论和关于信息可信度的现有研究，本研究考察了情感和信息可信度是否作为错误信息的新颖性和有效性影响分享意图的机制。通过采用2（新颖性条件：高与低）×2（有效性条件：高与低）组间设计，利用韩国的全国配额样本（n = 1012）进行了一项关于新冠错误信息的在线实验。研究结果表明，与预期相反，新颖性对分享意图的总体影响是负面的。具体机制在不同方向上发挥了显著且独特的作用：新颖性通过引发惊讶情绪增加分享意图，同时也通过增加负面情绪、减少正面情绪和信息可信度对分享意图产生负面影响。与预期一致，有效性对分享意图呈现出正向的总体影响，这可以通过更高水平的（自我和反应）保护行动有效性增加正面情绪和信息可信度但减少负面情绪来解释。本文讨论了该研究的意义和局限性。
