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

Author

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  • Yunjuan Luo

    (Department of Online Communication, School of Journalism and Communication, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
    Co-first author, these authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Yang Cheng

    (Department of Communication, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
    Co-first author, these authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Yunjuan Luo & Yang Cheng, 2021. "The Presumed Influence of COVID-19 Misinformation on Social Media: Survey Research from Two Countries in the Global Health Crisis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:5505-:d:559012
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dietram A. Scheufele & Nicole M. Krause, 2019. "Science audiences, misinformation, and fake news," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(16), pages 7662-7669, April.
    2. Xudong Liu & Ven-hwei Lo & Ran Wei, 2020. "Violent Videogames, Telepresence, Presumed Influence, and Support for Taking Restrictive and Protective Actions," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yang Cheng & Yuan Wang & Feihong Pan, 2022. "The Impact of CSR Perceptions on Employees’ Turnover Intention during the COVID-19 Crisis in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-14, July.
    2. Wasim Ahmed & Josep Vidal-Alaball & Josep M. Vilaseca, 2022. "A Social Network Analysis of Twitter Data Related to Blood Clots and Vaccines," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-8, April.

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