POLITICAL AWARENESS AND RESILIENCE TO MALICIOUS INFORMATION AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: COGNITION, ATTITUDE, DIGITAL BEHAVIOR, AND EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM
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https://doi.org/10.46827/ejpss.v9i3.2308##semicolon##
political awareness##common.commaListSeparator## malicious information##common.commaListSeparator## political attitude##common.commaListSeparator## digital political behavior##common.commaListSeparator## media literacy##article.abstract##
Social media is an important arena of political socialization for university students, but it also increases exposure to misleading, decontextualized, and emotionally manipulative information. This study examines students’ political awareness and resilience to malicious information through the relationships among political cognition, political attitude, and digital political behavior. A mixed-methods design combined document analysis, a survey of 300 full-time students from eight faculties at An Giang University conducted from January to March 2026, and interviews with 12 students and four Youth Union/Student Association officers. The questionnaire comprised 19 items measured on a five-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and multiple linear regression in SPSS 26.0. Political cognition reached M = 4.44 (SD = 0.70), political attitude M = 4.42 (SD = 0.69), and digital political behavior M = 4.12 (SD = 0.81). Although 79.3% of respondents could recognize distorted content, only 65.0% reported responding to or flagging it. Attitude was significantly associated with behavior (r = .52, p < .01) and remained a significant predictor in the regression model (β = .45, p < .001), which explained 36.0% of behavioral variance. Cognition was not a significant direct predictor after controlling for attitude (β = .12, p = .08). The findings reveal an awareness–action gap and support political education that integrates critical media literacy, evidence-based discussion, and responsible digital civic practice on election quality misreads the institutional preconditions of consolidation.##submission.citations##
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