Who is more likely to spread rumors? A study of the relationship be- tween critical thinking, health anxiety, helpfulness, exhibitionism, and health rumor transmission on WeChat among older adults in China

Abstract

With the popularity of social networking sites, rumors also found their way in these sites. Health is one of the most popular rumor topics on WeChat, one of the most popular social networking sites in China^[1]. Among the people who transmit health rumors, older adults have become the main force^[2].<br />Classical studies on rumor mainly focused on the predictors of the transmission of specific rumor messages under extreme events, such as war or earthquake^[3~4] and overlooked the group or sociocultural determinants of rumor transmission^[5]. This study examined the trait predictors of the transmission of health rumor in everyday life, and included predictor variables that reflect interpersonal influence. Specially, we hypothesized that older people who are low in critical thinking, high in health anxiety, helpfulness and exhibitionism are more willing to transmit rumor on SNSs.<br />Results from a survey with Chinese older adults who are 50 years or older (n = 914) showed that critical thinking was negatively related to rumor transmission intention, helpfulness was positively related to rumor transmission intention, while health anxiety and exhibitionism were not significantly related to rumor transmission intention.