The algorithmic aesthetic of wellness: observational learning and self-efficacy in adult responses to AI-Driven misinformation

As social media becomes a primary health information source, AI-generated and aesthetically packaged wellness misinformation poses growing challenges to digital health literacy. Using Social Cognitive Theory, this study examines how adults engage with such content through observational learning and self-efficacy. Interviews and focus groups with 18 users aged 18 to 49 suggest that wellness behaviours may be internalised through ambient exposure rather than deliberate imitation, while participants with different self-efficacy profiles described different forms of critical engagement. Findings highlight that misinformation resistance is both cognitive and affective, shaped by visual appeal, identity alignment, and emotional fatigue. The study suggests how SCT may be extended to account for algorithmic media environments and informs interventions fostering epistemic awareness and emotional resilience.