COVID-19-related information seeking and individual's rumor refuting: A multi-information-source perspective

Existing literatures of rumor on social media mainly focus on its sharing, ignoring rumor refuting related studies. To bridge the above research gap, present study proposed a dual-pathway model examining the impact of different information-source on online rumor refuting. Specially, COVID-19-related information seeking will induce individuals' rumor refuting, among which individuals’ health self-efficacy and infection risk perception play the mediating role. Meanwhile, peer condition and peer communication moderate the above two pathways. Data from 4596 individuals to a large online survey support our theoretical model. Our framework contributes to both theory and practice.