The spread of science misinformation harms efforts to mitigate threats like climate change or coronavirus. Construal-level theory suggests that mediated messages can prime psychological proximity to threats, having consequences for behavior. Via two MTurk experiments, I tested a serial mediation process model predicting misinformation sharing from lexical concreteness, through psychological proximity and perceived threat. In Study 1, concrete misinformation primed psychological proximity which, in turn, increased perceived threat. Perceived threat then increased the likelihood that misinformation would be shared. Source credibility was also shown to positively influence misinformation sharing. Study 2 advanced this by showing this process was moderated by subjective knowledge. Specifically, the effect of perceived threat on misinformation sharing was stronger for those with higher subjective knowledge. Furthermore, the indirect effect of lexical concreteness on misinformation sharing was stronger for those with higher subjective knowledge. Results and limitations are discussed within the lens of construal-level theory and science communication.

科学错误信息的传播损害了缓解气候变化或冠状病毒等威胁的努力。解释级理论认为，中介信息可以使心理接近威胁，从而对行为产生影响。通过两个MTurk实验，我测试了一个串行调解过程模型，该模型预测了词汇具体性，心理亲和力和感知到的威胁所导致的错误信息共享。在研究1中，具体的错误信息引发了心理上的接近，进而增加了感知到的威胁。然后，感知到的威胁增加了错误信息被共享的可能性。来源可信度也显示出对错误信息共享的积极影响。研究2通过证明此过程受主观知识的调节而得以推进。特别，对于主观知识较高的人来说，感知到的威胁对错误信息共享的影响更大。此外，对于具有较高主观知识的人来说，词汇具体性对错误信息共享的间接影响更强。结果和局限性是在解释级理论和科学传播的视角下讨论的。