You must be myths-taken: examining belief in falsehoods during the COVID-19 health crisis
The prevalence of health myths is increasing with the rise of Internet use. Left unaddressed, online falsehoods can lead to harmful behaviours. In times of crisis, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the circulation of many myths is exacerbated, often to varying degrees among different cultures. S...
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sg-ntu-dr.10356-1747682024-06-28T07:28:57Z You must be myths-taken: examining belief in falsehoods during the COVID-19 health crisis Lwin, May Oo Sheldenkar, Anita Tng, Pei Ling Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Social Sciences Coronavirus disease 2019 Myth beliefs The prevalence of health myths is increasing with the rise of Internet use. Left unaddressed, online falsehoods can lead to harmful behaviours. In times of crisis, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the circulation of many myths is exacerbated, often to varying degrees among different cultures. Singapore is a multicultural hub in Asia with Western and Asian influences. Although several studies have examined health myths from a Western or Eastern perspective, little research has investigated online health falsehoods in a population that is culturally exposed to both. Furthermore, most studies examined myths cross-sectionally instead of capturing trends in myth prevalence over time, particularly during crisis situations. Given these literature gaps, we investigated popular myths surrounding the recent COVID-19 pandemic within the multicultural setting of Singapore, by examining its general population. We further examined changes in myth beliefs over the two-year period during the pandemic, and population demographic differences in myth beliefs. Using randomised sampling, two online surveys of nationally representative samples of adults (aged 21-70 years) residing in Singapore were conducted, the first between October 2020 and February 2021 (N = 949), and the second between March and April 2022 (N = 1084). Results showed that 12.7% to 57.5% of the population were unable to identify various myths, such as COVID-19 was manmade, and that three of these myths persisted significantly over time (increases ranging from 3.9% to 9.8%). However, belief in myths varied across population demographics, with ethnic minorities (Indians and Malays), females, young adults and those with lower education levels being more susceptible to myths than their counterparts (p < 0.05). Our findings suggest that current debunking efforts are insufficient to effectively counter misinformation beliefs during health crises. Instead, a post-COVID-19 landscape will require targeted approaches aimed at vulnerable population sub-groups, that also focus on the erroneous beliefs with long staying power. National Medical Research Council (NMRC) Published version MOL received funding for this study from Singapore’s National Medical Research Council (https://www.nmrc.gov.sg/) COVID-19 Research Fund (COVID19RF-005 and COVID19RF-0009). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. 2024-04-09T06:58:06Z 2024-04-09T06:58:06Z 2024 Journal Article Lwin, M. O., Sheldenkar, A. & Tng, P. L. (2024). You must be myths-taken: examining belief in falsehoods during the COVID-19 health crisis. PloS One, 19(3), e0294471-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294471 1932-6203 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174768 10.1371/journal.pone.0294471 38442102 2-s2.0-85186900001 3 19 e0294471 en COVID19RF-005 COVID19RF0009 PloS one doi:10.21979/N9/PCWG0U © 2024 Lwin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. application/pdf |
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Social Sciences Coronavirus disease 2019 Myth beliefs Lwin, May Oo Sheldenkar, Anita Tng, Pei Ling You must be myths-taken: examining belief in falsehoods during the COVID-19 health crisis |
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The prevalence of health myths is increasing with the rise of Internet use. Left unaddressed, online falsehoods can lead to harmful behaviours. In times of crisis, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the circulation of many myths is exacerbated, often to varying degrees among different cultures. Singapore is a multicultural hub in Asia with Western and Asian influences. Although several studies have examined health myths from a Western or Eastern perspective, little research has investigated online health falsehoods in a population that is culturally exposed to both. Furthermore, most studies examined myths cross-sectionally instead of capturing trends in myth prevalence over time, particularly during crisis situations. Given these literature gaps, we investigated popular myths surrounding the recent COVID-19 pandemic within the multicultural setting of Singapore, by examining its general population. We further examined changes in myth beliefs over the two-year period during the pandemic, and population demographic differences in myth beliefs. Using randomised sampling, two online surveys of nationally representative samples of adults (aged 21-70 years) residing in Singapore were conducted, the first between October 2020 and February 2021 (N = 949), and the second between March and April 2022 (N = 1084). Results showed that 12.7% to 57.5% of the population were unable to identify various myths, such as COVID-19 was manmade, and that three of these myths persisted significantly over time (increases ranging from 3.9% to 9.8%). However, belief in myths varied across population demographics, with ethnic minorities (Indians and Malays), females, young adults and those with lower education levels being more susceptible to myths than their counterparts (p < 0.05). Our findings suggest that current debunking efforts are insufficient to effectively counter misinformation beliefs during health crises. Instead, a post-COVID-19 landscape will require targeted approaches aimed at vulnerable population sub-groups, that also focus on the erroneous beliefs with long staying power. |
author2 |
Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information |
author_facet |
Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Lwin, May Oo Sheldenkar, Anita Tng, Pei Ling |
format |
Article |
author |
Lwin, May Oo Sheldenkar, Anita Tng, Pei Ling |
author_sort |
Lwin, May Oo |
title |
You must be myths-taken: examining belief in falsehoods during the COVID-19 health crisis |
title_short |
You must be myths-taken: examining belief in falsehoods during the COVID-19 health crisis |
title_full |
You must be myths-taken: examining belief in falsehoods during the COVID-19 health crisis |
title_fullStr |
You must be myths-taken: examining belief in falsehoods during the COVID-19 health crisis |
title_full_unstemmed |
You must be myths-taken: examining belief in falsehoods during the COVID-19 health crisis |
title_sort |
you must be myths-taken: examining belief in falsehoods during the covid-19 health crisis |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174768 |
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1814047148278284288 |