Aart van Stekelenburg, Gabi Schaap, Harm Veling, Jonathan van 't Riet, Moniek Buijzen
Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University.
Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Psychol Sci. 2022 Dec;33(12):1989-2008. doi: 10.1177/09567976221083219. Epub 2022 Oct 14.
Scientific-consensus communication is among the most promising interventions to minimize the gap between experts' and the public's belief in scientific facts. There is, however, discussion about its effectiveness in changing consensus perceptions and beliefs about contested science topics. This preregistered meta-analysis assessed the effects of communicating the existence of scientific consensus on perceived scientific consensus and belief in scientific facts. Combining 43 experiments about climate change, genetically modified food, and vaccination, we found that a single exposure to consensus messaging had a positive effect on perceived scientific consensus ( = 0.55) and on belief in scientific facts ( = 0.12). Consensus communication yielded very similar effects for climate change and genetically modified food, whereas the low number of experiments about vaccination prevented conclusions regarding this topic. Although these effects are small, communicating scientific consensus appears to be an effective way to change factual beliefs about contested science topics.
科学共识传播是缩小专家与公众对科学事实信念差距最具前景的干预措施之一。然而，对于其在改变关于有争议科学话题的共识认知和信念方面的有效性存在讨论。这项预先注册的荟萃分析评估了传达科学共识的存在对感知到的科学共识和对科学事实的信念的影响。结合43项关于气候变化、转基因食品和疫苗接种的实验，我们发现单次接触共识信息对感知到的科学共识（=0.55）和对科学事实的信念（=0.12）有积极影响。共识传播对气候变化和转基因食品产生了非常相似的效果，而关于疫苗接种的实验数量较少，无法就该话题得出结论。尽管这些影响较小，但传达科学共识似乎是改变关于有争议科学话题的事实信念的有效方式。
