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. 2024 Mar 27;14(4):278.
doi: 10.3390/bs14040278.

The Influence of Affective Empathy on Online News Belief: The Moderated Mediation of State Empathy and News Type

Yifan Yu  1 , Shizhen Yan  2 , Qihan Zhang  1 , Zhenzhen Xu  1 , Guangfang Zhou  1 , Hua Jin  1
Affiliations

The Influence of Affective Empathy on Online News Belief: The Moderated Mediation of State Empathy and News Type

Yifan Yu et al. Behav Sci (Basel). .

Abstract

The belief in online news has become a topical issue. Previous studies demonstrated the role emotion plays in fake news vulnerability. However, few studies have explored the effect of empathy on online news belief. This study investigated the relationship between trait empathy, state empathy, belief in online news, and the potential moderating effect of news type. One hundred and forty undergraduates evaluated 50 online news pieces (25 real, 25 fake) regarding their belief, state empathy, valence, arousal, and familiarity. Trait empathy data were collected using the Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. State empathy was positively correlated with affective empathy in trait empathy and believability, and affective empathy was positively correlated with believability. The influence of affective empathy on news belief was partially mediated by state empathy and regulated by news type (fake, real). We discuss the influence of empathy on online news belief and its internal processes. This study shares some unique insights for researchers, practitioners, social media users, and social media platform providers.

Keywords: affective empathy; fake news; news belief; online news.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors disclosed no relevant relationships. The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The news stimuli (Left: fake; Right: real).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The mediating effect of state empathy is shown. Note: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001. The results demonstrated that state empathy partially mediated the influence of affective empathy on news believability.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The moderated mediation model. Note: When controlling for the mediating variable, the direct effect of state empathy (empathy level) was statistically significant, with a confidence interval that did not include zero (Effect = 0.024, SE = 0.007, 95%CI = [0.011, 0.038]). News type significantly moderated the impact of state empathy on believability (b = −0.229, SE = 0.095, p = 0.017, 95%CI = [−0.416, −0.042]). * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Moderating effect of real and fake types between state empathy and believability. Note: In the “fake” news condition, b = 0.431, SE = 0.069, t = 6.246, p < 0.001, 95%CI = [0.295, 0.566]. In the “real” news condition, b = 0.202, SE = 0.068, t = 2.971, p = 0.003, 95%CI = [0.068, 0.336].
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