- Efficacy information
 - Positive and negative emotions
 - Novelty of information
 - Credibility of information

Information Characteristics That Influence Sharing Intention

Individuals high in agreeableness may be less likely to contribute to the propagation of misinformation.

Agreeableness & Misinformation Sharing Intention

Research finds that openness to experience is positively associated with sharing misinformation, as individuals high in this domain want to explore the concept behind such misinformation.

Openness & Misinformation Sharing Intention

High conscientiousness can reduce sharing online misinformation when linked to motivation behavior. Research suggests that the existence of low conscientiousness conservatives and their desire for chaos is a key personality facet in the spreading of misinformation.

Conscientiousness & Misinformation Sharing Intention

Neuroticism negatively relates to sharing misinformation, as uncertainty towards the consequences of sharing doubtful information may increase apprehensive feelings. 

Neuroticism & Misinformation Sharing Intention

High extraversion can increase misinformation sharing intention if done for socializing purposes. Some research has found that only extraversion influences the engagement and sharing of misinformation, but this research requires further replication.

Extraversion & Misinformation Sharing Intention

Willingness to share a message one has just read. Experimentally measured using the following items: “I am willing to share this information with my friends or family” and “I think this information is worth sharing with my friends or family.”

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Research has investigated how misinformation can spread on social media and can have a cascading effect in the creation of conspiracy theories.

Internet and the Spread of Misinformation

Song, H., So, J., Shim, M., Kim, J., Kim, J., & Lee, K. (2023). What message features influence the intention to share misinformation about COVID-19 on social media? The role of efficacy and novelty. Computers in Human Behavior, 138, 107439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107439

What message features influence the intention to share misinformation about COVID-19 on social media? The role of efficacy and novelty.

#FilmYourHospital was a conspiracy theory which argued that the COVID-19 pandemic was fake. People essentially took photographs of hospitals' parking lots to "prove" that COVID-19 was a (politically-motivated) hoax.

Internet and the Spread of Misinformation: #FilmYourHospital

Sharing Intention

Research on tweets from the first half of 2020 found that the words ‘Us’, ‘India,’ ‘Wuhan,’ ‘Coronavirus,’ ‘China,’ and ‘Might’ are commonly used words when it is the case of misinforming tweets. Most tweets were sent in March, around the beginning of the pandemic. Misinforming tweets gained a large amount of spreading, regardless of factuality or popularity.

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