How people perceive influence of fake news and why it matters

摘要

Employing theoretical frameworks regarding people’s perceptionof media effects (e.g. third-person effect), this study examineshow people perceive the effects of fake news, what maylead to these perceptions, and how people act on them.Findings from an online survey provide evidence that peopleperceive fake news to have negative influence on themselvesand others, with greater influence on others than themselves.This study revealed that the extended internal political efficacyscale – the conventional internal political efficacy scale witha measure specific to fake news – serves as an antecedent ofthe perceived influence of fake news on oneself, others, and theself-other perceptual disparity. Further, the perceptions of fakenews effects on oneself and others, separately and jointly, weresignificantly associated with several likely behaviors includingsupport for fake news regulation, social media withdrawal, andinformation sharing on social media.