Understanding Rumor Sharing Behavior During COVID-19: The Dominant Motivation and the Potential Consequences for Life Satisfaction.

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, rumors were shared widely and quickly, leading to unfortunate consequences. To explore the dominant motivation underlying such rumor sharing behavior and the potential consequences for sharers' life satisfaction, two studies were conducted. Study 1 was based on representative popular rumors that circulated throughout Chinese society during the pandemic to examine the dominant motivation underlying rumor sharing behavior. Study 2 employed a longitudinal design to further test the dominant motivation underlying rumor sharing behavior and its effects on life satisfaction. The results of these two studies generally supported our hypotheses that people chose to share rumors during the pandemic mainly for the purpose of fact-finding. Regarding the effects of rumor sharing behavior on life satisfaction, although sharing wish rumors (i.e., rumors expressing hopes) had no effect on sharers' life satisfaction, sharing dread rumors (i.e., rumors reflecting fears) and aggression rumors (i.e., rumors implying aggression and hatred) reduced sharers' life satisfaction. This research lends support to the integrative model of rumor and provides practical implications for mitigating the spread of rumors.