IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/smo/raiswp/0454.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Exploring the Nature of the Cyberpsychology Concepts that Apply to COVID-19 Misinformation and Barriers to Health Literacy

Author

Listed:
  • Darrell Norman Burrell

    (University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore MD, USA; Marymount University, Arlington, VA, USA)

Abstract

This study examines the critical role of cyberpsychology in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation on social media which is an urgent global health concern with profound public health implications. Despite being a major conduit for misinformation, social media holds the potential to be part of an integrated solution. Traditional countermeasures, such as content moderation and fact-checking, have struggled to address the cognitive biases and emotional factors fueling misinformation’s rapid spread. This research delves into the psychological mechanisms by which individuals process, trust, and share health information in digital spaces by leveraging cyberpsychology, a field that merges psychology, sociology, and computer science insights. This study sheds light on the cognitive, emotional, and social drivers of misinformation. This analysis advances practical, cyberpsychology-based recommendations, developed with contributions from leading experts, to inform future public health strategies. These strategies are not only adaptable but also effective in the increasingly complex digital information landscape, emphasizing the need for such approaches.

Suggested Citation

  • Darrell Norman Burrell, 2024. "Exploring the Nature of the Cyberpsychology Concepts that Apply to COVID-19 Misinformation and Barriers to Health Literacy," RAIS Conference Proceedings 2022-2024 0454, Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:smo:raiswp:0454
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://rais.education/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/0454.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Salman Bin Naeem & Maged N. Kamel Boulos, 2021. "COVID-19 Misinformation Online and Health Literacy: A Brief Overview," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-12, July.
    2. Marie Louise Radanielina Hita & Yany Grégoire & Bruno Lussier & Simon Boissonneault & Christian Vandenberghe & Sylvain Sénécal, 2023. "An extended health belief model for COVID-19: understanding the media-based processes leading to social distancing and panic buying," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 132-152, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Veronika Anselmann & Simone Halder & Sophie Sauer, 2024. "Nursing Students’ Health Literacy and Strategies to Foster Patients’ Health Literacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(8), pages 1-9, August.
    2. Lucía Abascal Miguel & Andres Maiorana & Gustavo Santa Roza Saggese & Chadwick K. Campbell & Beth Bourdeau & Emily A. Arnold, 2024. "A Co-Created Tool to Help Counter Health Misinformation for Spanish-Speaking Communities in the San Francisco Bay Area," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(3), pages 1-10, March.
    3. Ammara Malik & Faiza Bashir & Khalid Mahmood, 2023. "Antecedents and Consequences of Misinformation Sharing Behavior among Adults on Social Media during COVID-19," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440221, January.
    4. Rosa Vicari & Nadejda Komendatova, 2023. "Systematic meta-analysis of research on AI tools to deal with misinformation on social media during natural and anthropogenic hazards and disasters," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, December.
    5. Fu, Shixuan & Zheng, Xiaojiang & Wang, Hongpeng & Luo, Yunzhong, 2023. "Fear appeals and coping appeals for health product promotion: Impulsive purchasing or psychological distancing?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    6. Baharudin Abdullah & Kornkiat Snidvongs & Niken Lestari Poerbonegoro & Budi Sutikno, 2022. "Reshaping the Management of Allergic Rhinitis in Primary Care: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-16, October.
    7. Chen Cohen & Lilach Rinot Levavi, 2023. "A Game-Theory-Based Approach to Promoting Health Policy among Minorities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-18, February.
    8. Pilar Bas-Sarmiento & María José Lamas-Toranzo & Martina Fernández-Gutiérrez & Miriam Poza-Méndez, 2022. "Health Literacy, Misinformation, Self-Perceived Risk and Fear, and Preventive Measures Related to COVID-19 in Spanish University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-18, November.
    9. Kanokporn Pinyopornpanish & Nopakoon Nantsupawat & Nida Buawangpong & Suphawita Pliannuom & Tanat Vaniyapong & Wichuda Jiraporncharoen, 2022. "Concerns of Home Isolating COVID-19 Patients While Receiving Care via Telemedicine during the Pandemic in the Northern Thailand: A Qualitative Study on Text Messaging," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-13, May.
    10. Federica Di Spirito & Alessandra Amato & Francesco D’Ambrosio & Davide Cannatà & Maria Pia Di Palo & Nicoletta Coppola & Massimo Amato, 2023. "HPV-Related Oral Lesions: YouTube Videos Suitability for Preventive Interventions including Mass-Reach Health Communication and Promotion of HPV Vaccination," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-19, May.
    11. María F. Rivadeneira & María J. Miranda-Velasco & Hiram V. Arroyo & José D. Caicedo-Gallardo & Carmen Salvador-Pinos, 2022. "Digital Health Literacy Related to COVID-19: Validation and Implementation of a Questionnaire in Hispanic University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-14, March.
    12. Željko Pavić & Emma Kovačević & Adrijana Šuljok, 2023. "Health literacy, religiosity, and political identification as predictors of vaccination conspiracy beliefs: a test of the deficit and contextual models," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    13. Michael M. Phillips & Rosana Hernandez Weldon & Anam Maniar & Uday Patil & Uliana Kostareva & Joy Agner & Julia Finn & Tetine Sentell, 2022. "Social Networks, Health Information Sharing, and Pandemic Perceptions among Young Adults in Hawai’i during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-14, December.
    14. Anthony Faiola & Maged N. Kamel Boulos & Salman Bin Naeem & Aziz ur-Rehman, 2022. "Integrating Social and Family Support as a Measure of Health Outcomes: Validity Implications from the Integrated Model of Health Literacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19 misinformation; Cyberpsychology; Media Psychology; Social Media; Health Misinformation; Digital Health Literacy; Public Health; Health Education; Vaccine hesitancy;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:smo:raiswp:0454. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Eduard David (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://rais.education/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.