Predicting healthcare professionals' intention to correct health misinformation on social media

Few studies examine how human information sources correct health misinformation on social media. This study investigates the proportion of healthcare professionals who intend to correct health misinformation on social media using various social correction methods, such as private priming, public priming, private rebuttal, and public rebuttal. It also uses the Theory of Planned Behavior and Organizational Support Theory to predict factors associated with healthcare pro-fessionals' intention to correct health misinformation on social media. An online survey con-ducted in October 2020 with 377 nurses and doctors in the U.S. shows that they mostly intend to perform public priming and public rebuttal when correcting health misinformation on social media. Moreover, mediation analysis showed that perceived organizational support indirectly predicts intention to correct health misinformation on social media through two sets of mediators. First, instrumental attitude and affective attitude mediated the association between perceived organizational support and intention to correct health misinformation on social media using private priming, public priming, and public rebuttal. Second, affective attitude, descriptive norm, and perceived behavioral control mediated the association between perceived organizational support and intention to correct health misinformation on social media using private rebuttal. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Automated summary

This study examines the intention of healthcare professionals to correct health misinformation on social media and finds that they are more inclined to use public priming and public rebuttal methods. Furthermore, perceived organizational support indirectly influences the intention to correct health misinformation through different sets of mediators.