Does Science Literacy Guarantee Resistance to Health Rumors? The Moderating Effect of Self-Efficacy of Science Literacy in the Relationship between Science Literacy and Rumor Belief

Lingnan He, Yue Chen, Xiling Xiong, Xiqian Zou and Kaisheng Lai
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Lingnan He: School of Communication and Design, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Yue Chen: School of Communication and Design, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Xiling Xiong: School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai 519000, China
Xiqian Zou: School of Journalism and Communication, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Kaisheng Lai: School of Journalism and Communication, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-10

Abstract: Health rumors not only incite unnecessary fears and skepticism, but may also cause individuals to refuse effective remedy and thus delay their treatment. Studies have found that health literacy may help the public identify the falsity of health rumors and avoid their negative impact. However, whether other types of literacy work in helping people disbelieve health rumors is still unknown. With a national survey in China (N = 1646), our study examined the effect of science literacy on rumor belief and further analyzed the moderating role of self-efficacy of science literacy in their relationship. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that science literacy significantly decreased the likelihood of people believing in health rumors, and moderator analysis showed that self-efficacy of science literacy plays a moderating role in this relationship; such that the relationship between science literacy and health rumor belief would be weakened if one?s self-efficacy of science literacy was low. This finding reveals that during campaigns to combat health rumors, improving and enhancing the self-efficacy of people?s science literacy is an effective way to prevent them from believing in health rumors. Our study highlights the benefits of science education in public health and the improvement of public science literacy.

Keywords: science literacy; health rumor; self-efficacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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