Correcting science misinformation in an authoritarian country: An experiment from China

Wenting Yu; Fei Shen; Chen Min

doi:10.1016/j.tele.2021.101749

Correcting science misinformation in an authoritarian country: An experiment from China

Wenting Yu, Fei Shen (Corresponding Author), Chen Min

Research output: Journal article publication › Journal article › Academic research › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

People rely on heuristic cues to evaluate messages. An increasing number of studies found corrective messages useful in correcting misinformation, and the correction effect varies on heuristic cues. Existing studies, however, mostly focus on correction effects in the Western context. This study aims to compare the effects of corrective messages with different heuristic cues in an authoritarian society. We focused on the cues that suggest government authoritativeness. Using an online experiment, we compared the impacts of correction sources (official vs. professional vs. layperson) and tones (formal vs. conversational) on the believability of the correction. The results indicated corrections from a government source and delivered in a formal tone were more believable in China. In addition, we examined the moderating role of attitude congruence.

Original language	English
Article number	101749
Journal	Telematics and Informatics
Volume	66
Early online date	28 Nov 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2021.101749
Publication status	Published - Jan 2022
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Authoritarian
China
Correction
Misinformation
Science

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Communication
Computer Networks and Communications
Law
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

More information

10.1016/j.tele.2021.101749

http://hdl.handle.net/10397/108364

Cite this

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AB - People rely on heuristic cues to evaluate messages. An increasing number of studies found corrective messages useful in correcting misinformation, and the correction effect varies on heuristic cues. Existing studies, however, mostly focus on correction effects in the Western context. This study aims to compare the effects of corrective messages with different heuristic cues in an authoritarian society. We focused on the cues that suggest government authoritativeness. Using an online experiment, we compared the impacts of correction sources (official vs. professional vs. layperson) and tones (formal vs. conversational) on the believability of the correction. The results indicated corrections from a government source and delivered in a formal tone were more believable in China. In addition, we examined the moderating role of attitude congruence.

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Correcting science misinformation in an authoritarian country: An experiment from China

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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