Fatigued but engaged: What drives fake news sharing in the age of social media?

The escalation of fake news on social media platforms has surfaced as an urgent issue in Malaysia, particularly among university students who exhibit substantial engagement with digital environments. The swift propagation of misinformation presents considerable risks to public perception, societal unity, and the reliability of media outlets. In spite of the increasing scholarly interest, there exists a paucity of research examining the psychological and behavioral determinants that facilitate the sharing of fake news within the context of Malaysian higher education. In response to this void, the current study meticulously explores the impact of socialization, social media fatigue, self-disclosure, and online trust on the dissemination of fake news among university students. Employing a quantitative, cross-sectional methodology, data were gathered via an online survey from 449 university students throughout Malaysia. The measurement instrument employed a five-point Likert scale to assess the relevant constructs, and multiple linear regression analysis was utilized to evaluate the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that socialization, social media fatigue, and self-disclosure serve as significant predictors of fake news sharing behavior. Conversely, online trust did not exhibit a statistically significant correlation. This study contributes to the expanding corpus of research on misinformation by elucidating key behavioral factors influencing fake news dissemination in a Malaysian academic context. It provides practical implications for the formulation of digital literacy initiatives and focused awareness campaigns designed to foster responsible online behavior among the youth demographic. Future studies should broaden the participant pool beyond university students, implement probability-based and longitudinal research designs, and integrate additional psychological and contextual factors to augment the generalizability and comprehensiveness of the findings.