The communication of scientific information plays an increasingly important role for scientists and scientific institutions. This is especially true of institutions in the field of biodiversity and conservation research, since the transfer of research results to the public is a prerequisite for decision-making, and the success of conservation measures often depends on public acceptance or active contribution. To have the desired impact, science communication in the context of human-wildlife interactions must enable recipients to (1) gain valid knowledge, (2) form an attitude toward the subject matter, and (3) develop an adequate understanding of the risks and dangers associated with human-wildlife interactions, which are usually overestimated by the general public. Using the topic of foxes in urban habitats, we investigated the role of emotionalization in science communication.In a laboratory experiment with 127 university students (91 females), we manipulated textual and visual features in an information brochure about foxes and examined their impact on people's knowledge gain, attitude development, and modified risk perception. In particular, we compared a narrative presentation to a non-narrative list of facts and examined the use of photographs of young foxes. We found a positive development in all of the outcome variables from the pre-to the posttest (more knowledge, more positive attitude, lower risk perception). We also found an interaction effect of text type and visualization on knowledge gain that highlighted the importance of the fit between text type and visualization. In contrast to our expectations, we did not find any differential effects of specific treatments on attitude development. Finally, we found a main effect of text type on modified risk perception, indicating less reduction of risk perception with a narrative article than with a fact list. We discuss our findings with respect to the role of emotionalization in science communication, stressing that it is particularly important to achieve a suitable fit between textual and visual forms of emotionalization, depending on the goal of communication. We also discuss possible explanations as to why some hypotheses were not supported by the data. In our concluding statements, we refer to limitations of the present study and address implications for future research.

As a consequence of increasing human-wildlife encounters, the associated potential for human-wildlife conflict rises. The dependency of conservation management actions on the acceptance or even the participation of people requires modern conservation strategies that take the human dimension of wildlife management into account. In the first place, conservationists therefore need to understand how people perceive wildlife. In the present study, we examined how wildlife perception varies with people's socio-demographic backgrounds in terms of age, gender, and education as well as the settlement structure of people's living environment and their general life satisfaction, using the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) as a model species. We used an interview-based survey of 2,646 participants, representative for the German population, for investigating their knowledge about, risk perception of, and attitude toward red foxes. We found a negative correlation between age and the risks perceived regarding foxes. Moreover, men held a more positive attitude and perceived less risk than women. Higher education was also associated with lower risk perception and a more positive attitude. The results further indicated that people who live in rural areas perceived higher risks regarding foxes and showed a less positive attitude than people in urban or suburban areas. Finally, people who perceived higher risks and held a less positive attitude supported lethal population management actions more often. However, we also found that perceived risks decreased with participants' general life satisfaction. Hence, wildlife perception is affected by various factors. Understanding the factors affecting wildlife perception is crucial for environmental communication and for fostering acceptance of conservation measures to improve conservation strategies.

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We examined in two empirical studies how situational and personal aspects of uncertainty influence laypeople’s understanding of the uncertainty of scientific information, with focus on the detection of tentativeness and perception of scientific credibility. In the first study (N = 48), we investigated the impact of a perceived conflict due to contradicting information as a situational, text-inherent aspect of uncertainty. The aim of the second study (N = 61) was to explore the role of general self-efficacy as an intra-personal uncertainty factor. In Study 1, participants read one of two versions of an introductory text in a between-group design. This text provided them with an overview about the neurosurgical procedure of deep brain stimulation (DBS). The text expressed a positive attitude toward DBS in one experimental condition or focused on the negative aspects of this method in the other condition. Then participants in both conditions read the same text that dealt with a study about DBS as experimental treatment in a small sample of patients with major depression. Perceived conflict between the two texts was found to increase the perception of tentativeness and to decrease the perception of scientific credibility, implicating that text-inherent aspects have significant effects on critical appraisal. The results of Study 2 demonstrated that participants with higher general self-efficacy detected the tentativeness to a lesser degree and assumed a higher level of scientific credibility, indicating a more naïve understanding of scientific information. This appears to be contradictory to large parts of previous findings that showed positive effects of high self-efficacy on learning. Both studies showed that perceived tentativeness and perceived scientific credibility of medical information contradicted each other. We conclude that there is a need for supporting laypeople in understanding the uncertainty of scientific information and that scientific writers should consider how to present scientific results when compiling pertinent texts.

Medical research findings are often tentative, and people should be able to perceive this. However, the psychological processes underlying this ability are largely unclear. In a laboratory experiment, we found that the following factors had an impact on perception of tentativeness of research findings reported in a newspaper article: (a) the framing of findings, (b) emphasis on the limited reliability of the findings in the article, (c) people's provisional opinion on the topic, and (d) their medicine-related epistemological beliefs. We make recommendations to science journalists to help promote the public understanding of health research and provide suggestions for future studies.