FCRP - Dis/Information

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Browsing FCRP - Dis/Information by Subject "Conspiracy theories"

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    Media Exposure to Conspiracy vs. Anti-conspiracy Information. Effects on the Willingness to Accept a COVID-19 Vaccine
    (Polskie Towarzystwo Komunikacji Społecznej, 2021) Udrea, Georgiana; Buturoiu, Raluca; Dumitrache, Alexandru Cristian; Corbu, Nicoleta
    The COVID-19 pandemic opened the doors for a corresponding “infodemic”, associated with various misleading narratives related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. As the way to stop the pandemic was unveiled, misleading narratives switched from the disease itself to the vaccine. Nevertheless, a rather scarce corpus of literature has approached the effects of these narratives on the willingness to take a vaccine against COVID-19. This study investigates how exposure to conspiracy narratives versus information that counter these narratives influences people’s willingness to get vaccinated. Based on an experimental design, using a sample of Romanian students (N=301), this research shows that exposure to factual information related to COVID-19 vaccines meant to debunk conspiracy theories leads to higher willingness to vaccinate. Furthermore, this study shows that young, educated Romanians consider distant others to be more influenced by conspiracy theories on this topic, and, therefore, more prone to exhibit hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccination.
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    Predictors of Engagement on Social Media and Instant Messaging Platforms during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Romania
    (2022-12) Corbu, Nicoleta; Bârgăoanu, Alina; Durach, Flavia; Ștefăniță, Oana
    The COVID-19 pandemic raised important questions about news patterns of interaction on social network sites (SNS) and instant messaging platforms (IM), especially in the context of the massive replacement of face-to-face interactions with mediated interactions, due to the restrictive measures taken in many parts of the world. In this context, by means of a national survey conducted in Romania (N=1160), we investigated people’s willingness to engage on social media and instant messaging platforms about the topic of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results show that people are eager to share information about the topic on both SNS and IM, less interested in getting involved in debates, and even less in voluntary work. All these behaviors are predicted by trust of SNS and news consumption on these platforms, perceived size of the personal digital network, belief in conspiracy theories about the virus, uncertainty about the impact of the crisis, and level of education.
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    THIRD PERSON PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE ABILITY TO DETECT FAKE NEWS: THE ROLE OF MEDIA DIET AND CONSPIRACY THEORIES
    (2022) Corbu, Nicoleta; Buturoiu, Raluca; Oprea, Denisa Adriana
    Multiple forms of disinformation have proliferated on digital media platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic, when news consumption increased considerably. In this specific context, this paper investigates the way media diet influences the third person perceptions about people’s ability to detect fake news. We focus here on some understudied predictors of third person perception about fake news detection, such as diversity of media diet and belief in conspiracy theories. By means of a national survey (N=1006) conducted in Romania in October 2020, we test this effect for close and distant others, and the role both mainstream and online media play in this context. Main findings show that frequency of news consumption, trust in the media, and belief in conspiracy theories decrease the perceptual gap between self and others, while education and the diversity of the media diet intensifies it.
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    Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories about the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania? An Analysis of Conspiracy Theories Believers’ Profiles
    (2021) Buturoiu, Raluca; Udrea, Georgiana; Oprea, Denisa Adriana; Corbu, Nicoleta
    The current COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by the circulation of an unprecedented amount of “polluted” information, especially in the social media environment, among which are false narratives and conspiracy theories about both the pandemic and vaccination against COVID-19. The effects of such questionable information primarily concern the lack of compliance with restrictive measures and a negative attitude towards vaccination campaigns, as well as more complex social effects, such as street protests or distrust in governments and authorities in general. Even though there is a lot of scholarly attention given to these narratives in many countries, research about the profile of people who are more prone to believe or spread them is rather scarce. In this context, we investigate the role of age, compared with other socio-demographic factors (such as education and religiosity), as well as the role of the media (the frequency of news consumption, the perceived usefulness of social media, and the perceived incidence of fake information about the virus in the media) and the critical thinking disposition of people who tend to believe such misleading narratives. To address these issues, we conducted a national survey (N = 945) in April 2021 in Romania. Using a hierarchical OLS regression model, we found that people who perceive higher incidence of fake news (ß = 0.33, p < 0.001), find social media platforms more useful (ß = 0.13, p < 0.001), have lower education (ß = −0.17, p < 0.001), and have higher levels of religiosity (ß = 0.08, p < 0.05) are more prone to believe COVID-19-related misleading narratives. At the same time, the frequency of news consumption (regardless of the type of media), critical thinking disposition, and age do not play a significant role in the profile of the believer in conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic. Somewhat surprisingly, age does not play a role in predicting belief in conspiracy theories, even though there are studies that suggest that older people are more prone to believe conspiracy narratives. As far as media is concerned, the frequency of news media consumption does not significantly differ for believers and non-believers. We discuss these results within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.