Presenter: Yewon Kang
Affiliation: University of Minnesota – Department of Educational Psychology
Date: 2022-04-26
Little is known about how different linguistic forms of headlines affect the spread of misinformation. This study examined the effects of various linguistic forms of true and false headlines on users’ click and share intentions.
536 participants were recruited via Prolific. They were presented with 36 COVID-19-related (18 true and 18 false) headlines and asked to indicate their intent to click and share. Headlines were manipulated into one of nine speech acts, classified into three categories: assertive, interrogative, and a combination of both.
Results showed that combined and interrogative forms were significant unique predictors of both click and share intentions. People were less likely to click or share for combined and interrogative headlines than for assertive headlines. Whether the headline was true or false was not a significant predictor.
While hypotheses were only partially supported, findings suggest that linguistic forms are significant predictors of clicking and sharing intentions.