Trust in government buffers the negative effect of rumor exposure on people’s emotions

Although we are surrounded by various kinds of rumors during the coronavirus disease pandemic, little is known about their primary content, what effect they might have on our emotions, and the potential factors that may buffer their effect. Combining qualitative (study 1 extracted 1907 rumors from top rumor-refuting websites using the Python Web Crawler and conducted content analysis) and quantitative (study 2 conducted an online survey adopting a three-wave design, N = 444) research methods, the current study revealed that government-related rumors accounted for the largest proportion of rumors during the outbreak stage of the pandemic and were positively associated with the public’s negative emotions. We also found that trust in government negatively moderated the relationship between government-related rumors and negative emotions. Specifically, when people had low trust in government, exposure to government-related rumors was positively associated with negative emotions. However, when people had high trust in government, the association was non-significant. For positive emotions, we found no significant effects of government-related rumors. The findings highlight the importance of rumor control during public emergencies and cultivating public trust in government in the long run.