Trust in social media and COVID-19 beliefs and behaviours

Nicholls, Nicky; Yitbarek, Eleni

dc.contributor.author	Nicholls, Nicky
dc.contributor.author	Yitbarek, Eleni
dc.date.accessioned	2022-11-07T12:35:35Z
dc.date.available	2022-11-07T12:35:35Z
dc.date.issued	2022-10-13
dc.description	DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENTS Statement: Data is available on the University of Pretoria Figshare site. The DOI is 10.25403/UPresearchdata.19463492	en_US
dc.description	SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL : S1 Table. Details of responses to categorical predictor variables. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275969.s001	en_US
dc.description	S2 Table. Regressions using Tobit and logit models for behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275969.s002	en_US
dc.description	S3 Table. Comparing impacts of different measures using Tobit and OLS models. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275969.s003	en_US
dc.description	S1 Questionnaire. Informed consent and questionnaire. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275969.s004	en_US
dc.description.abstract	The study investigates the relationship between trust in social media and beliefs and preventive behaviours in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed 1008 respondents in South Africa to study how trust in social media relative to other information sources predicts perceived risk and adoption of preventive behaviours. Although engagement with and trust in social media do not predict less adoption of preventive behaviours, trusting information from social media more than information from mass media or scientists is associated with less risk perception from COVID-19 and reduces the adoption of preventive behaviours (including vaccines).	en_US
dc.description.department	Economics	en_US
dc.description.librarian	dm2022	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	The African Academy of Sciences.	en_US
dc.description.uri	http://www.plosone.org	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Nicholls, N. &, Yitbarek, E. (2022) Trust in social media and COVID-19 beliefs and behaviours. PLoS ONE 17(10): e0275969. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275969.	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1932-6203 (online)
dc.identifier.other	10.1371/journal.pone.0275969
dc.identifier.uri	https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/88173
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.publisher	Public Library of Science	en_US
dc.rights	© 2022 Nicholls, Yitbarek. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.	en_US
dc.subject	Social media	en_US
dc.subject	Vaccines	en_US
dc.subject	Medical risk factors	en_US
dc.subject	Prophylaxis	en_US
dc.subject	Scientists	en_US
dc.subject	Surveys	en_US
dc.subject	COVID-19 pandemic	en_US
dc.subject	Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)	en_US
dc.title	Trust in social media and COVID-19 beliefs and behaviours	en_US
dc.type	Article	en_US