Linking the pathway from social media health information seeking to health misinformation sharing: A moderated serial mediation model

Abstract

Seeking health information from social media has become prominent in recent years. Meanwhile, the proliferation of online health misinformation keeps abreast of this tendency and sparks grave concerns. Drawing upon the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) model and the cognitive load theory, the current study aims to clarify the relationship between social media health information seeking and health misinformation sharing with a focus on the Chinese middle-aged or above group, which has been deemed susceptible to online misinformation. Results of structural equation modeling based on an online survey (N = 388) disclosed a serial mediation process with health information overload and misperceptions as sequential mediators. Interestingly, while health misperceptions were positively related to misinformation sharing intention, health information overload was not. Furthermore, as a critical information processing predisposition, the need for cognition only buffered the positive association between information seeking and information overload. Overall, besides proposing a moderated serial mediation model to better comprehend the psychological mechanism underlying health misinformation sharing, this study highlights the importance of zooming into the organism part and the necessity of distinguishing between information overload and misperceptions in the context of health misinformation. Theoretical implications for unraveling online health misinformation sharing and practical implications for boosting immunity against health misinformation among at-risk groups are discussed.