Who endorses conspiracy theories? A moderated mediation model of Chinese and international social media use, media skepticism, need for cognition, and COVID-19 conspiracy theory endorsement in China

What Explains Natives and Sojourners Preventive Health Behavior in a Pandemic: Role of Media and Scientific Self-Efficacy

“…For instance, immigrants from non-native language-speaking countries encounter linguistic barriers to healthcare and access to service. Furthermore, recent literature emphasized the impact of the source of information (news) in China when defining readers' conceptualization of risk and fear of COVID-19 (Su et al, 2021); this source helps in the formulation of health orientation (Liu, 2021), drives negative emotion, and affects psychological resilience (Giri and Maurya, 2021). However, no previous report stated the use of the HBM in any setting to compare the sojourners and natives and to conceptualize the differences that can potentially drive practical implications and future research direction.…”

“… Zhou et al (2020) suggested that correct news (information) could be an effective measure to control and reduce disease spread during the pandemic crisis, as self-efficacy enables individuals to seek valid and reliable health-related information in a more systematic fashion ( Shang and Zuo, 2020 ). In particular, during COVID-19, the conspiracy theory endorsement was recorded as a great challenge, especially when considering international media sources in China; it signified the role of cognition ( Su et al, 2021 ). In line with the arguments by Su et al (2021) and Rosenstock et al (1988) , the current research bifurcated cognition to propose the media and SSEs, thereby helping explain how these efficacies can benefit information processing ( Xiao et al, 2021 ) and allow individuals to think critically ( Austin et al, 2016 ) while formulating perception of risk and health-protective behavior.…”

“…In particular, during COVID-19, the conspiracy theory endorsement was recorded as a great challenge, especially when considering international media sources in China; it signified the role of cognition ( Su et al, 2021 ). In line with the arguments by Su et al (2021) and Rosenstock et al (1988) , the current research bifurcated cognition to propose the media and SSEs, thereby helping explain how these efficacies can benefit information processing ( Xiao et al, 2021 ) and allow individuals to think critically ( Austin et al, 2016 ) while formulating perception of risk and health-protective behavior. Several researchers explained the role of media ( Cheng et al, 2020 ) and scientific ( Stosic et al, 2021 ) as a part of cognition (belief and efficacy) in the recent literature addressing COVID19-related behavioral studies.…”

Structural relationships between psychosocial risk, relationship quality, need for cognition, and quarantine intentions: the case of the quarantine hotel

“…Need for cognition is defined as the need to structure-relevant situations in meaningful and integrated ways and to understand and obtain a reasonable idea of the experiential world (Cohen et al 1995 ). It is the tendency in individuals through which they are motivated to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive activities (Su et al 2021 ). According to Cacioppo et al ( 1996 ), need for cognition has been shown to be positively related to a number of outcomes that are held to depend on cognitive processing of information, such as absorption in cognitive tasks, cognitive innovativeness, and verbal reasoning scores.…”

“…Need for cognition is defined as the need to structure-relevant situations in meaningful and integrated ways and to understand and obtain a reasonable idea of the experiential world (Cohen et al 1995). It is the tendency in individuals through which they are motivated to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive activities (Su et al 2021).…”