Do you trust the rumors? Examining the determinants of health-related misinformation in India

IF 2.1 3区心理学 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL

Asian Journal of Social Psychology Pub Date : 2023-10-04 DOI:10.1111/ajsp.12586

Hansika Kapoor, Swanaya Gurjar, Hreem Mahadeshwar, Nikita Mehta, Arathy Puthillam

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Rumors, conspiracies, and health-related misinformation have gone hand-in-hand with the global COVID-19 pandemic, making it hard to obtain reliable and accurate information. Against this background, this study examined the different psychosocial predictors of believing in conspiratorial information related to general health in India. Indian participants (N = 826) responded to measures related to conspiratorial thinking, trust, moral emotions, political ideology, bullshit receptivity, and belief in conspiratorial information in an online survey. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine the validity of the instruments used with an Indian sample. Results revealed that lower subjective socioeconomic status, lower trust in political institutions, greater negative moral emotions, greater conspiratorial thinking, and right-leaning political ideology predicted beliefs in health-related conspiratorial information. In highlighting these potential psychosocial determinants of conspiratorial beliefs, we can move toward combating conspiracies effectively and developing necessary interventions for the same. Future work can focus on assessing the moderating effects of political ideology on conspiratorial beliefs in India.

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您相信谣言吗？研究印度与健康有关的错误信息的决定因素

谣言、阴谋和与健康有关的错误信息与 COVID-19 在全球的流行如影随形，使得人们很难获得可靠而准确的信息。在此背景下，本研究对印度人相信与一般健康有关的阴谋信息的不同社会心理预测因素进行了研究。印度参与者（N = 826）在一项在线调查中回答了与阴谋论思想、信任、道德情感、政治意识形态、废话接受能力和对阴谋论信息的信念相关的测量。在印度样本中使用了探索性和确认性因素分析来确定所使用工具的有效性。结果显示，较低的主观社会经济地位、较低的政治机构信任度、较强的负面道德情绪、较强的阴谋论思维以及右倾政治意识形态都会影响人们对健康相关阴谋论信息的信念。通过强调这些阴谋论信念的潜在社会心理决定因素，我们可以有效地打击阴谋论，并为此制定必要的干预措施。今后的工作可以重点评估印度政治意识形态对阴谋论信念的调节作用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Asian Journal of Social Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL-

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

4.20%

发文量

期刊介绍： Asian Journal of Social Psychology publishes empirical papers and major reviews on any topic in social psychology and personality, and on topics in other areas of basic and applied psychology that highlight the role of social psychological concepts and theories. The journal coverage also includes all aspects of social processes such as development, cognition, emotions, personality, health and well-being, in the sociocultural context of organisations, schools, communities, social networks, and virtual groups. The journal encourages interdisciplinary integration with social sciences, life sciences, engineering sciences, and the humanities. The journal positively encourages submissions with Asian content and/or Asian authors but welcomes high-quality submissions from any part of the world.