Journal
JOURNAL OF HEALTH COMMUNICATION
Volume 23, Issue 8, Pages 791-799Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2018.1527877
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Rumors pose a significant challenge to officials combatting a public health crisis. The flow of unsubstantiated and often inaccurate information can dilute the effects of more accurate messaging. Understanding why rumors thrive in this context is a crucial first step to constraining them. We propose a novel mechanism for explaining rumor acceptance during a health crisis, arguing that the congruence between one's emotional state and the emotion induced by a rumor leads people to believe the rumor. Data collected using a novel experimental design provide preliminary evidence for our emotional congruence hypothesis. Participants who felt angry were more likely to accept anger-inducing rumors than those who were not angry. We discuss the implications of this insight for public health officials combatting rumors during a health crisis.
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