van Eck Christel W, van der Meer Toni G L A
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Public Underst Sci. 2025 Aug;34(6):734-751. doi: 10.1177/09636625251314159. Epub 2025 Feb 3.
Increasingly, more scientists sound the alarm about climate change, sparking debates over the effects of new science communication strategies on scientific credibility. We investigate what happens when climate scientists deviate from science communication that is principally factual and neutral. In an experiment (US sample, 882), we investigated if affective expressions and personal stories impact scientists' credibility and public climate engagement. The results suggest that when climate scientists incorporate affect or personal anecdotes into their messaging, it does not significantly diminish their credibility. Nevertheless, message consistency is essential; only by aligning the narrative with expressed affect can scientific credibility and climate engagement be increased.
越来越多的科学家对气候变化发出警报,引发了关于新的科学传播策略对科学可信度影响的辩论。我们研究了气候科学家偏离主要基于事实和中立的科学传播时会发生什么。在一项实验(美国样本,882人)中,我们调查了情感表达和个人故事是否会影响科学家的可信度以及公众对气候问题的参与度。结果表明,当气候科学家在信息传递中融入情感或个人轶事时,并不会显著降低他们的可信度。然而,信息的一致性至关重要;只有使叙述与所表达的情感保持一致,才能提高科学可信度和公众对气候问题的参与度。