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People with High Perceived Infectability Are More Likely to Spread Rumors in the Context of COVID-19: A Behavioral Immune System Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Qian Ding

    (College of Education Science, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang 464000, China)

  • Xingyu Luo

    (College of Education Science, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang 464000, China)

Abstract

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, many studies have explored the influencing factors of rumor spreading, such as anxiety, risk perception and information source credibility, but few studies have focused on the impact of individual differences. Based on the theory of behavioral immune systems, we investigated the impact of perceived infectability on rumor spreading and the mediating role of rumor trust in the context of COVID-19. Two studies were investigated using the scale and recall–report task of rumor spreading. The results show that perceived infectability was a significant positive predictor of rumor spreading. However, the impact of perceived infectability on rumor spreading was not direct, and it mainly indirectly affected rumor spreading through the mediating role of rumor trust. Overall, the findings suggest that individuals with high perceived infectability are more likely to believe rumors and then spread rumors during the epidemic. This study advances the literature on rumor spreading and behavioral immune systems and provides practical implications to anti-rumor campaigns.

Suggested Citation

  • Qian Ding & Xingyu Luo, 2022. "People with High Perceived Infectability Are More Likely to Spread Rumors in the Context of COVID-19: A Behavioral Immune System Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:703-:d:1020673
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Seoyong Kim & Sunhee Kim, 2020. "The Crisis of Public Health and Infodemic: Analyzing Belief Structure of Fake News about COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-23, November.
    2. Anita Padmanabhanunni & Tyrone Pretorius, 2021. "“I Teach, Therefore I Am”: The Serial Relationship between Perceived Vulnerability to Disease, Fear of COVID-19, Teacher Identification and Teacher Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Zhonggen Sun & Xin Cheng & Ruilian Zhang & Bingqing Yang, 2020. "Factors Influencing Rumour Re-Spreading in a Public Health Crisis by the Middle-Aged and Elderly Populations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-14, September.
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