{"title":"Cutting the Bunk: Comparing the Solo and Aggregate Effects of Prebunking and Debunking Covid-19 Vaccine Misinformation","authors":"Michelle A. Amazeen, A. Krishna, R. Eschmann","doi":"10.1177/10755470221111558","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470221111558","url":null,"abstract":"An online experiment among a nationally representative YouGov sample of unvaccinated U.S. adults (N = 540) leverages inoculation theory as a preliminary step in uniting the prebunking and debunking literature. By testing how prior attitudes toward Covid-19 vaccines interact with varying message interventions, the study finds that specific inoculation messages protect against misinformation, but only among those with preexisting healthy attitudes. Generic inoculation messages have wider application, offering both prophylactic and therapeutic benefits. However, the therapeutic benefits of generic inoculations disappear when debunking messages are present. Nonetheless, generic inoculations do not appear to have detrimental effects on those infected with unhealthy attitudes, unlike specific inoculation messages. Whether the messages are truly a form of inoculation by generating threat merits further research.","PeriodicalId":47828,"journal":{"name":"Science Communication","volume":"44 1","pages":"387 - 417"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45345580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Role of Repeated Exposure and Message Fatigue in Influencing Willingness to Help Polar Bears and Support Climate Change Mitigation","authors":"Hang Lu","doi":"10.1177/10755470221105068","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470221105068","url":null,"abstract":"Repeated exposure and its associated fatigue are key obstacles to engagement that remain insufficiently addressed for climate change communication. To explore this issue, this study randomly assigned U.S. adults (N = 933) to one of five experimental conditions (number of polar bear news headlines: 0 vs. 1 vs. 3 vs. 7 vs. 10), in which they were exposed to a total of 20 news headlines in a brief amount of time. Overall, this study did not find evidence supporting the inverted-U shaped model concerning repeated exposure. In addition, chronic message fatigue played a moderating role such that for those with high chronic message fatigue, even one brief exposure resulted in stronger acute message fatigue, which was associated with lower compassion and weaker willingness to help polar bears and support climate change mitigation. Discussions on these exploratory results and implications for audience segmentation are provided.","PeriodicalId":47828,"journal":{"name":"Science Communication","volume":"44 1","pages":"475 - 493"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46510692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Linking Online Vaccine Information Seeking to Vaccination Intention in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"Han Zheng, Shaohai Jiang, S. Rosenthal","doi":"10.1177/10755470221101067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470221101067","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines how online vaccine information seeking is related to vaccination intention in the United States and China during the initial stage of their coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination programs. Analysis of the pooled sample showed a positive relationship between online vaccine information seeking and vaccination intention. There was also a negative indirect effect via perceived information overload, vaccine risk perception, and negative affective response. Multigroup analysis revealed differences between the United States and China. This study highlights the bright and dark sides of online health information during a global pandemic and has practical implications for communication campaigns to promote health-related behaviors.","PeriodicalId":47828,"journal":{"name":"Science Communication","volume":"44 1","pages":"320 - 346"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44457779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Introduction to This Theme Issue on Processing COVID Information","authors":"S. Priest","doi":"10.1177/10755470221102303","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470221102303","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47828,"journal":{"name":"Science Communication","volume":"44 1","pages":"259 - 260"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47965674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Varieties of Awe in Science Communication: Reflexive Thematic Analysis of Practitioners’ Experiences and Uses of This Emotion","authors":"Daniel Silva Luna, J. Bering","doi":"10.1177/10755470221098100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470221098100","url":null,"abstract":"Awe is a valued emotion in science communication and assumes a variety of functions in relation to the cultural mandates of the various spaces where it is represented. Based on a reflexive thematic analysis of interviews with 22 science communication practitioners, we constructed seven themes referencing this emotion’s various sociocultural roles in this space. These included the functions of awe in entertainment, curiosity, admiration, revelation, and connection. Drawing from a constructionist view of emotions, we argue that these varieties of awe co-construct many of the differing, and sometimes conflicting, mandates that circulate in the culture of science communication.","PeriodicalId":47828,"journal":{"name":"Science Communication","volume":"44 1","pages":"347 - 374"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49635107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Establishing Trust in Experts During a Crisis: Expert Trustworthiness and Media Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"Sabina Mihelj, Katherine Kondor, V. Štětka","doi":"10.1177/10755470221100558","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470221100558","url":null,"abstract":"Existing research on factors informing public perceptions of expert trustworthiness was largely conducted during stable periods and in long-established Western liberal democracies. This article asks whether the same factors apply during a major health crisis and in relatively new democracies. Drawing on 120 interviews and diaries conducted during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Serbia, we identify two additional factors not acknowledged in existing research, namely personal contact with experts and experts’ independence from political elites. We also examine how different factors interact and show how distrust of experts can lead to exposure to online misinformation.","PeriodicalId":47828,"journal":{"name":"Science Communication","volume":"44 1","pages":"292 - 319"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44621245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Don’t Look Up: Science Communication Revisited","authors":"Samer Angelone","doi":"10.1177/10755470221092100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470221092100","url":null,"abstract":"In my workshops, Storytelling and Storyboarding Science, I teach scientists how to use the narrative techniques and strategies employed in movies to produce persuasive presentations and publications. Although the movie Don’t Look Up was initially intended as an allegory about climate change and the idea that decision makers are not listening to scientists, this movie does in fact highlight important issues regarding how scientists communicate science to the wider public. In this article, I discuss how this movie illustrates the challenges that I teach my students to cope with in science communication.","PeriodicalId":47828,"journal":{"name":"Science Communication","volume":"44 1","pages":"375 - 382"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49213846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Verification Upon Exposure to COVID-19 Misinformation: Predictors, Outcomes, and the Mediating Role of Verification","authors":"Yanqing Sun","doi":"10.1177/10755470221088927","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470221088927","url":null,"abstract":"This study proposes a theory-oriented model that examines the predictors and outcomes of people’s verification of COVID-19 misinformation. Using an online experiment with 400 U.S. adults, this study showed that those who believed that others might be influenced by misinformation and that such influence had serious consequences for others as well as those with a higher level of fear and anxiety were more likely to perform institutional verification by using search engines, prestigious medical sites, or fact-checking sites. The intention to conduct institutional verification increased individuals’ efficacy beliefs regarding correcting misinformation, which motivated them to correct misinformation on social media.","PeriodicalId":47828,"journal":{"name":"Science Communication","volume":"44 1","pages":"261 - 291"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44756426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Science CommunicationPub Date : 2022-02-01Epub Date: 2021-11-14DOI: 10.1177/10755470211056990
Amanda D Boyd, Dedra Buchwald
{"title":"Factors That Influence Risk Perceptions and Successful COVID-19 Vaccination Communication Campaigns With American Indians.","authors":"Amanda D Boyd, Dedra Buchwald","doi":"10.1177/10755470211056990","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470211056990","url":null,"abstract":"COVID-19 vaccinations are the primary tool to end the pandemic. However, vaccine hesitancy continues to be a barrier to herd-immunity in the United States. American Indians (AI) often have higher levels of distrust in western medicine and lower levels of satisfaction with health care when compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Yet AIs have high COVID-19 vaccination rates. We discuss factors that influence AI risk perceptions of COVID-19 vaccinations including the impact of COVID-19 on AI Elders, community, and culture. We conclude with future research needs on vaccination communication and how culturally congruent communication campaigns may have contributed to high COVID-19 vaccination rates.","PeriodicalId":47828,"journal":{"name":"Science Communication","volume":"44 1","pages":"130-139"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9355386/pdf/nihms-1771731.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40678181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gene Drives in the U.K., U.S., and Australian Press (2015–2019): How a New Focus on Responsibility Is Shaping Science Communication","authors":"Aleksandra Stelmach, B. Nerlich, S. Hartley","doi":"10.1177/10755470211072245","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470211072245","url":null,"abstract":"Gene drive is a controversial biotechnology for pest control. Despite a commitment from gene drive researchers to responsibility and the key role of the media in debates about science and technology, little research has been conducted on media reporting of gene drive. We employ metaphor and discourse analysis to explore how responsibility is reflected in the coverage of this technology in the U.S., U.K., and Australian press. The findings reveal a rhetorical strategy of trust-building by evoking the moral attributes of gene drive researchers. We discuss the implications of these findings for the communication of new technologies.","PeriodicalId":47828,"journal":{"name":"Science Communication","volume":"44 1","pages":"143 - 168"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42521393","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}