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Happiness and Surprise are associated with worse truth discernment of COVID-19 headlines among social media users in Nigeria

Author

Listed:
  • Leah Rosenzweig
  • Bence Bago

    (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

  • Adam J. Berinsky
  • David Rand

Abstract

Do emotions we experience after reading headlines help us discern true from false information or cloud our judgement? Understanding whether emotions are associated with distinguishing truth from fiction and sharing information has implications for interventions designed to curb the spread of misinformation. Among 1,341 Facebook users in Nigeria, we find that emotions – specifically happiness and surprise – are associated with greater belief in and sharing of false, relative to true, COVID-19 headlines. Respondents who are older, are more reflective, and do not support the ruling party are better at discerning true from false COVID-19 information.

Suggested Citation

  • Leah Rosenzweig & Bence Bago & Adam J. Berinsky & David Rand, 2021. "Happiness and Surprise are associated with worse truth discernment of COVID-19 headlines among social media users in Nigeria," Post-Print hal-03509537, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03509537
    DOI: 10.37016/mr-2020-75
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    Cited by:

    1. Bago, Bence & Rosenzweig, Leah & Berinsky, Adam & Rand, David, 2021. "Emotion may predict susceptibility to fake news but emotion regulation does not help," IAST Working Papers 21-127, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
    2. Beam, Emily A., 2023. "Social media as a recruitment and data collection tool: Experimental evidence on the relative effectiveness of web surveys and chatbots," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    3. Nan, Xiaoli & Wang, Yuan & Thier, Kathryn, 2022. "Why do people believe health misinformation and who is at risk? A systematic review of individual differences in susceptibility to health misinformation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    4. Tobia Spampatti & Ulf J. J. Hahnel & Evelina Trutnevyte & Tobias Brosch, 2024. "Psychological inoculation strategies to fight climate disinformation across 12 countries," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(2), pages 380-398, February.

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