Assessing Mechanisms Underlying the Sharing of Official and Unofficial Information during a Pandemic

Stephanie Jean Tsang, Xinyan Zhao and Yi-Ru Regina Chen
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Stephanie Jean Tsang: Department of Communication Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China
Xinyan Zhao: Hussman School of Journalism and Media, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
Yi-Ru Regina Chen: Department of Communication Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-15

Abstract: The COVID-19 disease outbreak has seen mixed information flows comprising top-down communication from health authorities to the public and citizen-to-citizen communication. This study aimed to identify mechanisms underlying the sharing of official versus unofficial information during the outbreak. Survey findings based on a nationally representative U.S. sample (N = 856) showed that individuals’ predispositions affected their information consumption and affective experiences, leading to distinct types of information-sharing behaviors. While anger toward the U.S. government’s outbreak response was directly associated with unofficial information sharing, anxiety was directly associated with official information sharing. These findings enhance our understanding of the propagation of different kinds of pandemic information and provide implications for public education on information verification based on source authoritativeness.

Keywords: anger; anxiety; information sharing; political orientation; unofficial information (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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