Liu Jianwei, Liu Xuekun, Lai Kee-Hung, Zhang Xiaofei, Ma Xiumei
School of Economics and Management, Dalian University of Technology, No.2, Linggong Road, Ganjingzi District, Dalian City, Liaoning Province, 116024, PR China.
Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Comput Human Behav. 2023 Oct;147:107842. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2023.107842. Epub 2023 Jun 18.
In the midst of the pervasive disruption caused by the proliferation of rumors, it is unclear how individuals react to such information. Guided by the SOR theory (Stimuli-Organism-Response), our study investigates the association between different information sources (stimuli), emotions experienced by individuals (organism), and resulting rumor behaviors such as sharing and refuting (response). Furthermore, we examine the moderating role of individual critical thinking in this process. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a study scenario, we collected questionnaire data from 4588 respondents. Our results reveal a large positive association between pandemic-related information and feelings of fear. Additionally, a medium negative correlation between fear and rumor sharing was observed while a moderate positive correlation between fear and rumor refuting was identified. Moreover, we found that individual critical thinking abilities can effectively moderate the relationship between fear and online COVID-19-related information and strengthen the link between fear and rumor sharing while weakening the link between fear and rumor refuting. Additionally, our study indicates that an individual's fear plays a mediating role in the relationship between information sources and rumor behavior. Our findings shed light on the information processing mechanisms underlying rumor behaviors and yield practical and policy implications for managing them.
在谣言泛滥造成的普遍混乱中，人们如何对这类信息做出反应尚不清楚。以刺激-机体-反应（SOR）理论为指导，我们的研究调查了不同信息来源（刺激）、个体经历的情绪（机体）与诸如分享和反驳等产生的谣言行为（反应）之间的关联。此外，我们考察了个体批判性思维在这一过程中的调节作用。以新冠疫情作为研究场景，我们从4588名受访者那里收集了问卷数据。我们的结果显示，与疫情相关的信息和恐惧情绪之间存在很大的正相关。此外，观察到恐惧与谣言分享之间存在中等程度的负相关，同时发现恐惧与谣言反驳之间存在适度的正相关。而且，我们发现个体的批判性思维能力能够有效调节恐惧与网上新冠相关信息之间的关系，加强恐惧与谣言分享之间的联系，同时削弱恐惧与谣言反驳之间的联系。此外，我们的研究表明，个体的恐惧在信息来源与谣言行为之间的关系中起中介作用。我们的研究结果揭示了谣言行为背后的信息处理机制，并为管理谣言行为产生了实际和政策方面的启示。
