Infodemic: the effect of death-related thoughts on news-sharing.

ABSTRACT: Research on the sharing of fake news has primarily focused on the manner in which fake news spreads and the literary style of fake news. These studies, however, do not explain how characteristics of fake news could affect people's inclination toward sharing these news articles. Drawing on the Terror Management Theory, we proposed that fake news is more likely to elicit death-related thoughts than real news. Consequently, to manage the existential anxiety that had been produced, people share the news articles to feel connected to close others as a way of resolving the existential anxiety. Across three experimental studies (total N = 416), we found that it was not news type per se (i.e., real versus fake news) that influenced news-sharing intentions; instead, it was the increased accessibili

SUBMITTER: Lim AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8136755 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature