BLINDED BY EMOTIONS: THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EMOTIONAL REACTIVITY AND TRUST IN FICTITIOUS NEWS STORIES ON CRIME

• Authors: Filkuková Petra , Langguth Johannes
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

We investigated the relation between emotional reactivity measured by Perth Emotional Reactivity Scale – Short Form (PERS-S) and trust in fictitious news stories on crime. In Study 1 we found on a sample of 508 older adults (M = 70.6 years) that their general positive and negative emotional reactivity was associated with trust in the presented misinformation, experienced negative emotions elicited by the news stories and willingness to share the news. For young adults in Study 2 (N = 186; M = 21.7) there was a weaker association between emotional reactivity and trust in misinformation, which involved only negative emotional reactivity. For both samples, trust in fictitious news stories was associated with trust in traditional and new media. There was no association between trust in fictitious news stories and high Internet use or high news consumption. Based on our findings, the focus on emotion control and critical reading seems to be important in the fight against misinformation.

Keywords

EN

EMOTIONAL REACTIVITY; MISINFORMATION; MEDIA LITERACY; ADULTS; PERTH EMOTIONAL REACTIVITY SCALE

• Publisher: Institute of Experimental Psychology, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Studia Psychologica
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 63
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 404 - 416

Contributors

author

Filkuková Petra

• Department of Psychology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 400, 2418 Elverum, Norway

author

Langguth Johannes

Identifiers

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31577/sp.2021.04.833