New research project acquired

18.10.2021

Starting November 1, Annie Waldherr's team will be part of the WWTF-funded project EMOMIS.

In cooperation with the Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH) and Graz University of Technology, Annie Waldherr (as a Co-PI) will conduct the research project Emotional Misinformation – The Interplay of Emotion and Misinformation Spreading on Social Media (EMOMIS). The project will receive funding by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) and is scheduled to run for three years. Led by Hannah Metzler (CSH Vienna, PI) and David Garcia (Graz University of Technology, Co-PI), EMOMIS looks to investigate the interplay of emotion and misinformation spreading. From April 2022 onwards, the project team will be supported by an additional predoc at our department.

About: The spreading of misinformation via social media contributes to a global threat to trust in science and democratic institutions, with consequences for public health and societal conflicts. Emotions influence how we process information, suggesting a link between certain emotional states and misinformation spreading – especially in times of high uncertainty. The project aims at understanding how emotions influence the tendency to believe and share inaccurate content, and to test intervention strategies to mitigate emotional misinformation spreading. Using digital data traces, the research team will analyze patterns of emotional misinformation spreading on social media and use experimental studies as well as computer simulations to test which emotion regulation strategies effectively contain its spread.


Emotional Misinformation – The Interplay of Emotion and Misinformation Spreading on Social Media (EMOMIS)
Funding provided by: Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF)
PI: Hannah Metzler (CSH Vienna)
Co-PI: Annie WaldherrDavid Garcia (Graz University of Technology)
Duration: 2021-2024
Funding: € 399.540

Image © Annie Waldherr