This study examines how different types of social media use for health risk information relate to individuals' corrective behavioral responses to misinformation. It also investigates how perceived others' responses to misinformation shape one's own.
Data were gathered through a two-wave online survey conducted in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis included lagged autoregressive path modeling for direct and mediation effects and ordinary least squares regression for moderation effects of perceived others' responses on individuals' own responses.
Results showed that while social media exposure and expression were both related to correction sharing and debunking indirectly through verification norms, only social media expression had a direct relationship with these two corrective behavioral responses. Compared to correction sharing, which primarily correlated with social media use and verification norms, debunking was associated with a combination of cognitive, affective, and normative factors, as well as social media use. Moreover, evaluations of others' risk perception moderated the relationship between individuals' own risk perception and positive emotions. The relationships between individuals' information insufficiency and correction sharing/debunking were contingent upon perceived others' information insufficiency.
This study advances understanding of risk-related social media use by contrasting the direct and indirect roles of exposure and expression in predicting corrective behavioral responses to misinformation. It also contributes to the literature by differentiating the motivational mechanisms underlying correction sharing and debunking, two related yet distinct corrective behaviors. Finally, it identifies which perceived others' responses to misinformation serve as boundary conditions moderating individuals' own responses.
The peer review history for this article is available at: Link to the website.
