Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic devastated the world economy. Global infections and deaths altered the behaviors of generations. The Internet acted as an incredible vehicle for communication but was also a source of unfounded rumors. Unfortunately, this freedom of information sharing and fear of COVID-19 fostered unfounded claims about transmission (e.g., 5G networks spread the disease). With negligible enforcement to stop the spread of rumors and government officials spouting unfounded claims, falsities became ubiquitous. Organizations, public health officials, researchers, and businesses spent limited resources addressing rumors instead of implementing policies to overcome challenges (e.g., speaking to defiant mask wearers versus safe reopening actions). The researchers defined COVID-19 transmission misinformation as false beliefs about the spread and prevention of contracting the disease. Design and validation of the 12-item COVID-19 Transmission Misinformation Scale (CTMS) provides a measure to identify transmission misinformation believers. Indirect COVID-19 transmission misinformation beliefs with a fear of COVID-19 decreased wearing a mask in public intentions. Callousness exacerbated COVID-19 transmission misinformation beliefs as a moderator.
Highlights
Preventative measures such as mask wearing and physical distancing have reduced the spread of COVID-19 and saved lives [1,2,3]
The high reliability demonstrated that participants showed high consistency in believing or not believing the gamut of false statements
The results demonstrated that COVID-19 transmission misinformation beliefs remained consistent and stable
Summary
Preventative measures such as mask wearing and physical distancing have reduced the spread of COVID-19 and saved lives [1,2,3]. Natural homeopathies (e.g., garlic) were propagated as a means to increase someone’s natural immunity to prevent contraction [7]. No scientific evidence has proven natural homeopathies such as garlic prevents COVID-19 infections. Similar to how COVID-19 did not selectively infect persons for a single predisposition, misinformation spread across society and was picked up across different groups of people. This abstract phenomenon illustrated that a psychological construct was warranted to capture this collective misunderstanding of COVID-19 transmission
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
