How Does Reverse-Conformity Ambivalent Psychology Influence Rumor Spreading?

In the age of social media, rumor dissemination brings serious negative impacts to society. It is important to explore the dissemination mechanism and management strategies to control rumor dissemination and reduce negative impacts. Considering the effect of reverse-conformity ambivalent psychology on the rumor dissemination process, a novel dynamic model incorporating the dual psychology effects is constructed. Then, we perform the calculation of basic reproduction number and stability. Besides, we conduct model parameter fitting and compare with other models to verify the validity of the model. Furthermore, we explore the rumor dissemination law through numerical simulation. The results show that the increase of reverse psychology and refute-exposed individuals’ internal dissemination preferences with conformity psychology could weaken the scope and speed of rumor information dissemination and strengthen that of rumor-refuting information dissemination. The increase of rumor-exposed individuals’ internal dissemination preferences with conformity psychology would bring the opposite result. The government should actively share knowledge, cultivate individuals’ awareness of rumor-refuting, and respond promptly against rumor information in a timely manner. The results are useful to understand better the effect of reverse-conformity ambivalent psychology on rumor dissemination and suggest a promising way to weaken the negative impacts of rumor.