TY - JOUR
T1 - Digital Disinformation about COVID-19 and the Third-Person Effect
T2 - Examining the Channel Differences and Negative Emotional Outcomes
AU - Liu, Piper Liping
AU - Huang, Vincent
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.
PY - 2020/11/1
Y1 - 2020/11/1
N2 - Expanding third-person effect (TPE) research to digital disinformation, this article investigates the impact of COVID-19 digital fake news exposure on individuals' perceived susceptibility of influence on themselves, their close others, and their distant others. Findings from a survey of 511 Chinese respondents suggest that, overall, individuals would perceive themselves to be less vulnerable than close others and distant others to the impact of COVID-19 digital disinformation. The highest self-other perceptual discrepancy is found when individuals receive disinformation on mobile social networking apps. Also, individuals who practice more active fact-checking perceive themselves to be less susceptible. The perception of disinformation effects on self as well as the self-other perceptual discrepancy is both positively related to emotional responses (anxiety, fear, and worry) to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study contributes to existing research by linking exposure to disinformation in different digital channels, the TPEs, and emotional outcomes in the context of a public health crisis. It also highlights the importance of educating and enabling fact-checking behaviors on digital media, which could help to reduce negative emotional impact of the disinformation.
AB - Expanding third-person effect (TPE) research to digital disinformation, this article investigates the impact of COVID-19 digital fake news exposure on individuals' perceived susceptibility of influence on themselves, their close others, and their distant others. Findings from a survey of 511 Chinese respondents suggest that, overall, individuals would perceive themselves to be less vulnerable than close others and distant others to the impact of COVID-19 digital disinformation. The highest self-other perceptual discrepancy is found when individuals receive disinformation on mobile social networking apps. Also, individuals who practice more active fact-checking perceive themselves to be less susceptible. The perception of disinformation effects on self as well as the self-other perceptual discrepancy is both positively related to emotional responses (anxiety, fear, and worry) to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study contributes to existing research by linking exposure to disinformation in different digital channels, the TPEs, and emotional outcomes in the context of a public health crisis. It also highlights the importance of educating and enabling fact-checking behaviors on digital media, which could help to reduce negative emotional impact of the disinformation.
KW - digital disinformation
KW - fact-checking
KW - negative emotions
KW - third-person effect
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85095946416&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1089/cyber.2020.0363
DO - 10.1089/cyber.2020.0363
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 32757953
AN - SCOPUS:85095946416
SN - 2152-2715
VL - 23
SP - 789
EP - 793
JO - Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
JF - Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
IS - 11
ER -