The Mediating Role of Cognitions and Locus of Control in the Management of Emotional States Induced by „Fake News” in a Group of Students

Information or „fake news”, which is increasingly present in social media, can be stressful for some people, so they can become dysfunctional in their social, family or professional environment. In this paper we provide empirical evidence explaining the role of psychological characteristics in managing dysfunctional negative emotional states induced by „fake news” and thus maladaptive behaviours. The results show that individual cognitive profile (rational vs. irrational) and locus of control (internal vs. external) play a mediating role in stimulus processing, i.e., between „fake news” induced emotions and generic everyday satisfaction of people engaged in learning activities (students) and simultaneously in professional activities. In this way, we can predict which individuals demonstrate the ability to understand and separate between news with advert and „fake news” content and their implications for generic everyday satisfaction.