Dong Xinxia, Yang Janet Z
School of Journalism and Communication, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.
Department of Communication, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA.
Risk Anal. 2025 Sep;45(9):2685-2696. doi: 10.1111/risa.70047. Epub 2025 May 5.
Conflicting information that arises from scientific disagreement poses challenges to effective risk communication. This study explores the impact of conflicting information on risk perception and downstream risk-mitigation behavioral intention and policy support. The research context is PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination. We conducted an online experiment featuring a 2 (information type: conflicting vs. consistent) × 2 (personal relevance: high vs. low) between-subjects factorial design with 1232 American adult participants. Results indicated that exposure to conflicting information dampened risk perception, which subsequently reduced risk-mitigation behavioral intention and policy support, but only when participants perceived the risk from PFAS as less personally relevant. These findings underscore the importance of providing consistent information to the public on emerging environmental risks that bear uncertain health impacts.
科学分歧产生的相互矛盾的信息给有效的风险沟通带来了挑战。本研究探讨了相互矛盾的信息对风险认知以及下游风险缓解行为意图和政策支持的影响。研究背景是全氟和多氟烷基物质（PFAS）污染。我们进行了一项在线实验，采用2（信息类型：相互矛盾的信息与一致的信息）×2（个人相关性：高与低）的组间析因设计，共有1232名美国成年参与者。结果表明，接触相互矛盾的信息会削弱风险认知，进而降低风险缓解行为意图和政策支持，但这仅发生在参与者认为PFAS带来的风险与个人相关性较低时。这些发现强调了就对健康影响不确定的新出现环境风险向公众提供一致信息的重要性。
