Objective Knowledge Mediates the Relationship between the Use of Social Media and COVID-19-Related False Memories

The exposure to relevant social and/or historical events can increase the generation of false memories (FMs). The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a calamity challenging health, political, and journalistic bodies, with media generating confusion that has facilitated the spread of fake...

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Autores principales:	Chiara Scuotto, Ciro Rosario Ilardi, Francesco Avallone, Gianpaolo Maggi, Alfonso Ilardi, Giovanni Borrelli, Nadia Gamboz, Marco La Marra, Raffaella Perrella
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	false memories COVID-19 fake news fear objective knowledge social media Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry RC321-571
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b0d8e9dcaaf24694af69547c55111c80
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b0d8e9dcaaf24694af69547c55111c802021-11-25T16:58:22ZObjective Knowledge Mediates the Relationship between the Use of Social Media and COVID-19-Related False Memories10.3390/brainsci111114892076-3425https://doaj.org/article/b0d8e9dcaaf24694af69547c55111c802021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/11/1489https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3425The exposure to relevant social and/or historical events can increase the generation of false memories (FMs). The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a calamity challenging health, political, and journalistic bodies, with media generating confusion that has facilitated the spread of fake news. In this respect, our study aims at investigating the relationships between memories (true memories, TMs vs. FMs) for COVID-19-related news and different individual variables (i.e., use of traditional and social media, COVID-19 perceived and objective knowledge, fear of the disease, depression and anxiety symptoms, reasoning skills, and coping mechanisms). One hundred and seventy-one university students (131 females) were surveyed. Overall, our results suggested that depression and anxiety symptoms, reasoning skills, and coping mechanisms did not affect the formation of FMs. Conversely, the fear of loved ones contracting the infection was found to be negatively associated with FMs. This finding might be due to an empathy/prosociality-based positive bias boosting memory abilities, also explained by the young age of participants. Furthermore, objective knowledge (i) predicted an increase in TMs and decrease in FMs and (ii) significantly mediated the relationships between the use of social media and development of both TMs and FMs. In particular, higher levels of objective knowledge strengthened the formation of TMs and decreased the development of FMs following use of social media. These results may lead to reconsidering the idea of social media as the main source of fake news. This claim is further supported by either the lack of substantial differences between the use of traditional and social media among participants reporting FMs or the positive association between use of social media and levels of objective knowledge. The knowledge about the topic rather than the type of source would make a difference in the process of memory formation.Chiara ScuottoCiro Rosario IlardiFrancesco AvalloneGianpaolo MaggiAlfonso IlardiGiovanni BorrelliNadia GambozMarco La MarraRaffaella PerrellaMDPI AGarticlefalse memoriesCOVID-19fake newsfearobjective knowledgesocial mediaNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. NeuropsychiatryRC321-571ENBrain Sciences, Vol 11, Iss 1489, p 1489 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	false memories COVID-19 fake news fear objective knowledge social media Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry RC321-571
spellingShingle	false memories COVID-19 fake news fear objective knowledge social media Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry RC321-571 Chiara Scuotto Ciro Rosario Ilardi Francesco Avallone Gianpaolo Maggi Alfonso Ilardi Giovanni Borrelli Nadia Gamboz Marco La Marra Raffaella Perrella Objective Knowledge Mediates the Relationship between the Use of Social Media and COVID-19-Related False Memories
description	The exposure to relevant social and/or historical events can increase the generation of false memories (FMs). The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a calamity challenging health, political, and journalistic bodies, with media generating confusion that has facilitated the spread of fake news. In this respect, our study aims at investigating the relationships between memories (true memories, TMs vs. FMs) for COVID-19-related news and different individual variables (i.e., use of traditional and social media, COVID-19 perceived and objective knowledge, fear of the disease, depression and anxiety symptoms, reasoning skills, and coping mechanisms). One hundred and seventy-one university students (131 females) were surveyed. Overall, our results suggested that depression and anxiety symptoms, reasoning skills, and coping mechanisms did not affect the formation of FMs. Conversely, the fear of loved ones contracting the infection was found to be negatively associated with FMs. This finding might be due to an empathy/prosociality-based positive bias boosting memory abilities, also explained by the young age of participants. Furthermore, objective knowledge (i) predicted an increase in TMs and decrease in FMs and (ii) significantly mediated the relationships between the use of social media and development of both TMs and FMs. In particular, higher levels of objective knowledge strengthened the formation of TMs and decreased the development of FMs following use of social media. These results may lead to reconsidering the idea of social media as the main source of fake news. This claim is further supported by either the lack of substantial differences between the use of traditional and social media among participants reporting FMs or the positive association between use of social media and levels of objective knowledge. The knowledge about the topic rather than the type of source would make a difference in the process of memory formation.
format	article
author	Chiara Scuotto Ciro Rosario Ilardi Francesco Avallone Gianpaolo Maggi Alfonso Ilardi Giovanni Borrelli Nadia Gamboz Marco La Marra Raffaella Perrella
author_facet	Chiara Scuotto Ciro Rosario Ilardi Francesco Avallone Gianpaolo Maggi Alfonso Ilardi Giovanni Borrelli Nadia Gamboz Marco La Marra Raffaella Perrella
author_sort	Chiara Scuotto
title	Objective Knowledge Mediates the Relationship between the Use of Social Media and COVID-19-Related False Memories
title_short	Objective Knowledge Mediates the Relationship between the Use of Social Media and COVID-19-Related False Memories
title_full	Objective Knowledge Mediates the Relationship between the Use of Social Media and COVID-19-Related False Memories
title_fullStr	Objective Knowledge Mediates the Relationship between the Use of Social Media and COVID-19-Related False Memories
title_full_unstemmed	Objective Knowledge Mediates the Relationship between the Use of Social Media and COVID-19-Related False Memories
title_sort	objective knowledge mediates the relationship between the use of social media and covid-19-related false memories
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/b0d8e9dcaaf24694af69547c55111c80
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Objective Knowledge Mediates the Relationship between the Use of Social Media and COVID-19-Related False Memories

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