Effects of COVID-19 misinformation on information seeking, avoidance, and processing: a multicountry comparative study

Effects of COVID-19 misinformation on information seeking, avoidance, and processing: a multicountry comparative study

We examined the implications of exposure to misinformation about COVID-19 in the United States, South Korea, and Singapore in the early stages of the global pandemic. The online survey results showed that misinformation exposure reduced information insufficiency, which subsequently led to greater in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kim, Hye Kyung, Ahn, Jisoo, Atkinson, Lucy, Kahlor, Lee Ann
Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Social sciences::Communication
COVID-19
Cross-Country Comparison
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161814
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:We examined the implications of exposure to misinformation about COVID-19 in the United States, South Korea, and Singapore in the early stages of the global pandemic. The online survey results showed that misinformation exposure reduced information insufficiency, which subsequently led to greater information avoidance and heuristic processing, as well as less systematic processing of COVID-19 information. Indirect effects differ by country and were stronger in the U.S. sample than in the Singapore sample. This study highlights negative consequences of misinformation during a global pandemic and addresses possible cultural and situational differences in how people interpret and respond to misinformation.

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