Conséquences of exposure to misinformation : Negative emotions and biased risk perception

This chapter explores the consequences of exposure to debunked yet popularly circulated COVID-19 misinformation on social media in the four studied cities. Specifically, it investigates how encountering the misinformation elicits respondents’ negative emotions (e.g., anger and anxiety) and influences their risk perception for both themselves and others. Findings show that the greater the levels of exposure to, sharing of, and elaboration of misinformation, the stronger the negative emotions and biased perception of others as being influenced by the misinformation. Thinking about the harmful consequences of misinformation pushed the level of anger, anxiety, annoyance, and worry to a higher notch. Beijing respondents who were exposed to COVID-19 misinformation the most reported the highest level of negative emotions and biased perception, followed by those from Singapore, Taipei, and Hong Kong.