ABSTRACT
On a regular day, individuals can consume news and information on purpose as well as accidently. Incidental news exposure (INE) can be critical for an informed citizenry, but individuals can also encounter misinformation and disinformation accidently. Misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has made headlines, and such fake information continues to circulate on social media. We examine the link between INE and misperceptions, as well as investigate the role of a literacy-related variable, self-perceived media literacy (SPML), which may mitigate the impact of INE on misperceptions. To that end, we use survey data to examine 1) the relationship between INE with general misperceptions and COVID-19 misperceptions, 2) the mediating role of general misperceptions between INE and COVID-19 misperceptions, and 3) the moderating role of SPML in this relationship. Our results demonstrated a significant moderated mediation model, in which the association between INE and COVID-19 misperceptions was mediated through general misperceptions, and this relationship was further moderated by SPML. Specifically, among those with higher levels of SPML, the indirect effect of INE on COVID-19 misperceptions was lower compared to those with lower levels of SPML. Our findings have critical implications for INE as well as misinformation research.