Misinformation and work-related outcomes of healthcare community: Sequential mediation role of COVID-19 threat and psychological distress

Khan, Ali Nawaz

By applying coping theory, this study develops and tests a process model investigating the sequential mediating roles of perceived COVID-19 threat and psychological distress on the relationships between social media misinformation and turnover intentions, and in-role performance. Hypothesized model for Study 1 was fully supported, showing that the association between social media misinformation and turnover intentions are each mediated sequentially, first by perceived COVID-19 threat and then by psychological distress. Additional support was found for the sequential mediation model when predicting turnover intentions and in-role performance in Study 2, using time-lagged data. Besides, this study found that resilience moderated social media misinformation's sequential indirect effect on turnover intentions and in-role performance. Implications and future research directions have been discussed.