Pivotal moment for trust in science – don’t waste it

Fearon, Patricia Andrews; Götz, Friedrich M.; Good, D H

doi:10.1038/d41586-020-01145-7

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…Regardless of how the field is funded, the science communication community faces new responsibilities in how to communicate science in uncertain times. The pandemic heralded a renewed call to rebuild trust between science and society, and it is up to researchers, educators, and policy-makers around the world to seize the opportunity to rebuild that trust (Andrews-Fearon et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taking Stock and Re-Examining the Role of Science Communication

Roche

Arias

Bell

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Eight science communication research projects have been funded by the European Commission since 2018. These projects are a response to one of the European Commission's 'Science with and for Society' (SwafS) funding calls -"SwafS-19: Taking stock and re-examining the role of science communication." Together these projects have received almost €10 million in research funding, and each has been affected to some extent by the COVID-19 global pandemic. This paper provides an overview of the eight projects, how they adapted to the challenges caused by the pandemic, and the subsequent implications for science communication policy and research funding.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taking Stock and Re-Examining the Role of Science Communication

Roche

Arias

Bell

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…People often view tangible and intangible resources as zero-sum, perceiving one’s gains as inevitably coming at others’ expense (Johnson et al, 2022; Meegan, 2010). For example, people believe that wealthy individuals become rich at the expense of worse-off others (Davidai & Ongis, 2019; Ongis & Davidai, 2021; Różycka-Tran et al, 2015; Sirola & Pitesa, 2017), that minority group members advance at the expense of the majority group (Bobo & Hutchings, 1996; Brown & Jacoby-Senghor, 2021; Esses et al, 1998; Kimmel, 2013; Norton & Sommers, 2011; Smithson et al, 2015), and that other countries and political parties gain at their own country’s and party’s expense (Andrews Fearon et al, 2021; Boyer & Petersen, 2017; Johnson, 2018; Roberts & Davidai, 2021).…”

Section: Zero-sum Beliefs About Social Hierarchiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is status a zero-sum game? Zero-sum beliefs increase people’s preference for dominance but not prestige.

Fearon¹,

Davidai²

2023

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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Why do so people often pursue social rank using coercive and potentially costly dominance-oriented strategies (grounded in fear and intimidation) rather than noncoercive prestige-oriented strategies (grounded in respect and admiration)? In 10 studies (N = 3,372, including a high-powered preregistered replication), we propose that people's beliefs about the nature of social hierarchies shape their preference for dominance strategies. Specifically, we find that zero-sum beliefs about social hierarchiesbeliefs that one person's rise in social rank inevitably comes at others' expense-drive the preference for dominance-oriented, but not prestige-oriented, approaches to status. The more participants viewed social hierarchies as zero-sum, the more they were willing to use dominance tactics and the more interested they were in reading books about how to use such tactics. Moreover, we find evidence that zerosum beliefs about social hierarchies causally increase the preference for dominance-oriented, but not prestige-oriented, strategies for gaining rank, and that both objective factors in the organizational environment and people's subjective interpretations of these environments can trigger this effect. We discuss implications for the intragroup and intergroup dynamics of attaining and retaining high social rank.

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“…In order to capture individuals' views that the pandemic could have favorable outcomes, positive expectations for the future were declined in a 3-fold way: expectations that Italians, Europeans, and human beings would improve as a consequence of having to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, we tested whether such associations were mediated by trust in the three main institutions involved in managing the pandemic: the Italian government, which directly established anticovid restrictions and managed the economic and social crisis; the European Union, which was asked to adopt bold economic measures to help the state members and coordinate shared practices (e.g., Caratelli, 2020); and the scientific community, which was entrusted of providing recommendations on how to prevent infections, controlling the spread of the virus, and finding solutions to overcome the pandemic, such as therapies and vaccines (e.g., Fearon et al, 2020;Bicchieri et al, 2021;Pagliaro et al, 2021;Plohl and Musil, 2021). Data were collected in April 2020, when Italy was struck by a massive death toll (especially in the northern regions of Lombardia, Veneto, and Emilia Romagna) and was on strict lockdown.…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“Everything Will Be All Right!” National and European Identification as Predictors of Positive Expectations for the Future During the COVID-19 Emergency

et al. 2021

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During the first national lockdown imposed in a Western country to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Italians tried to boost their spirits by hanging hand-drawn rainbows with the slogan “Everything will be all right” from their windows. To understand which processes might have nurtured their positive views about the future during the pandemic, the present study (N=846), building upon social identity research, examined the relationships among Italians’ identification with their country and with the superordinate entity of the European Union (EU), trust in the main institutions in charge of managing the crisis (i.e., the Italian government, the EU, and the scientific community), and beliefs that the COVID-19 crisis would eventually result in the improvement of society. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that identification with Italians and Europeans had positive direct associations with positive expectations about humankind. Identification with Europeans was also directly related to positive expectations about Italian leaders and the strengthening of the EU through the crisis. Trust in the Italian government and, to a lower extent, trust in the EU mediated some of these associations. These findings suggest that governments should actively promote national and European identification to help citizens counter the negative psychological impact of the pandemic and maintain positive views of the future.

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Pivotal moment for trust in science – don’t waste it

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Taking Stock and Re-Examining the Role of Science Communication

Taking Stock and Re-Examining the Role of Science Communication

Is status a zero-sum game? Zero-sum beliefs increase people’s preference for dominance but not prestige.

“Everything Will Be All Right!” National and European Identification as Predictors of Positive Expectations for the Future During the COVID-19 Emergency

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