Examining the association between social media fatigue, cognitive ability, narcissism and misinformation sharing: cross-national evidence from eight countries

Abstract

Several studies have explored the causes and consequences of public engagement with misinformation and, more recently, COVID-19 misinformation. However, there is still a need to understand the mechanisms that cause misinformation propagation on social media. In addition, evidence from non-Western societies remains rare. This study reports on survey evidence from eight countries to examine whether social media fatigue can influence users to believe misinformation, influencing their sharing intentions. Our insights also build on prior cognitive and personality literature by exploring how this mechanism is conditional upon users’ cognitive ability and narcissism traits. The results suggest that social media fatigue can influence false beliefs of misinformation which translates into sharing on social media. We also find that those with high levels of cognitive ability are less likely to believe and share misinformation. However, those with low cognitive ability and high levels of narcissism are most likely to share misinformation on social media due to social media fatigue. This study is one of the first to provide cross-national comparative evidence highlighting the adverse effects of social media fatigue on misinformation propagation and establishing that the relationship is not universal but dependent on both cognitive and dark personality traits of individuals.

Investigating the Influence of prolonged Stroop task on mental fatigue and the consequences on corticospinal and corticocortical excitability: A pilot study

“…Modern society is characterized by various activities which require prolonged engagement in intense or monotonous cognitive tasks demanding sustained attention (1,2). Many tasks including social activities such as the use of social media and video gaming, occupational activities, sports, and other day to day activities involve one form of cognitive engagement or another (3)(4)(5)(6)(7). These lifestyle factors lead to considerable complaints of mental fatigue in the modern society (1,(4)(5)(6)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12).…”

“…Many tasks including social activities such as the use of social media and video gaming, occupational activities, sports, and other day to day activities involve one form of cognitive engagement or another (3)(4)(5)(6)(7). These lifestyle factors lead to considerable complaints of mental fatigue in the modern society (1,(4)(5)(6)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12). Mental fatigue is a psychobiological state characterized by a sensation of mental tiredness or exhaustion and a decrease in cognitive performance, following a prolonged or sustain cognitive activity (13,14).…”

Incivility in COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Discourse and Moral Foundations: Natural Language Processing Approach

“…This gave rise to what scholars have coined an “infodemic” [ 9 ], where the unabated spread of COVID-19 misinformation on social media platforms undermined public trust in public health officials and their guidelines [ 10 ]. Recent work has shown that increased consumption of news related to COVID-19 leads to vaccine hesitancy and that engaging with the news on social media is linked to increased sharing and belief of COVID-19 misinformation due to various reasons, such as social media fatigue [ 11 , 12 ]. Uncivil vaccine discourse (eg, “Fucking Disneyland isn’t enforcing masks anymore there is no fucking reason for your college to do so especially since they are requiring the vaccine”) also decreases vaccine uptake [ 13 , 14 ].…”

Bridging the Gap: Social Networks and Professional Development in the Eyes of Prospective Science Teachers

“…Inside the education system, social networks fall within the concept of shared cognition [7,8]. Worldwide, numerous platforms have become widespread in higher education [9,10].…”