Undergraduates' appraisal and coping responses to dis/misinformation issues on social media: Implications for information literacy education

Abstract

Social media is increasingly recognized as a prominent stressor and source of societal problems (e.g., dis/misinformation) that impact students' growth and well-being. Academic libraries, as leaders in information literacy (IL), can play an important role in mitigating the problem. This includes advancing a holistic IL education, focusing not only on students' intellectual growth but also their affective responses to informational issues, as some affective reactions may lead to unproductive behaviors. To discover areas warranting IL interventions, the current study identified a typology of undergraduates' responses to dis/misinformation problems on social media. Applying the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping by Lazarus and Folkman, the study analyzed students' Twitter usage, cognitive appraisals, and coping responses (U-A-C) to dis/misinformation on Twitter. Two waves of survey were conducted, collecting a total of 1735 responses from undergraduates. The study identified five user profiles. The most prevalent profile (36 % of the sample) showed scant coping responses to dis/misinformation issues in all three categories (escape-avoidance, planful problem-solving, and seeking social support). Demographic differences (including gender and age) in U-A-C profiles were also found. The results revealed several patterns that IL education may need to address. For instance, one user profile showed low primary and secondary appraisals (i.e., low levels of perceived importance and self-efficacy related to addressing dis/misinformation problems) and high escape-avoidance coping, which would benefit from fine-tuned IL training that not only develops students' skills and self-confidence in IL, but also seeks to reduce avoidance behaviors. Implications for IL training and research are discussed.