Misinformation and work-related outcomes of healthcare community: Sequential mediation role of COVID-19 threat and psychological distress.

Abstract

By applying coping theory, this study develops and tests a process model investigating the sequential mediating roles of perceived COVID‐19 threat and psychological distress on the relationships between social media misinformation and turnover intentions, and in‐role performance. Hypothesized model for Study 1 was fully supported, showing that the association between social media misinformation and turnover intentions are each mediated sequentially, first by perceived COVID‐19 threat and then by psychological distress. Additional support was found for the sequential mediation model when predicting turnover intentions and in‐role performance in Study 2, using time‐lagged data. Besides, this study found that resilience moderated social media misinformation's sequential indirect effect on turnover intentions and in‐role performance. Implications and future research directions have been discussed.