Citation

Yang JZ, Chu H, Liu S. Disasters 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/disa.12519

PMID

34694034

Abstract

Based on data collected from a representative sample of American adults, this study explores social cognitive variables that motivate Americans to validate rumors about Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma on social media.

RESULTS indicate that risk perception and negative emotions are positively related to systematic processing of relevant risk information, and systematic processing is significantly related to rumor validation through search engines. In contrast, trust in information is significantly related to validation through official sources and news outlets. These results suggest that ordinary citizens may be motivated to validate rumors on social media, which is an increasingly important issue in contemporary societies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

social media; hurricanes; information processing; Risk perception; rumors