Modeling the Dynamic Process and Adverse Effects of Misinformation

Building on the bivariate and multivariate analyses presented in Chapters 4–10, we further explore in this chapter the process and effects of misinformation about COVID with a holistic modeling approach. Four structural models were proposed and tested with the pooled data collected from Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Results consistently underscore the important role of access to digital information in influencing the degree of encountering COVID-19 misinformation across the four cities, which affects a range of cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral outcomes. In addition, trust in government was found to be a moderator that interacts with exposure to misinformation in jointly influencing the respondents’ projected harms of misinformation on others and their support for action to restrict it. We explain the causal mechanisms of mediators such as elaborations, emotions elicited by misinformation, and presumed influence.