Public Perceptions of Expert Credibility on Policy Issues: The Role of Expert Framing and Political Worldviews

Abstract

How do individuals assess the credibility of experts in various policy domains? Under what conditions does the public interpret particular scientific knowledge claims as being trustworthy and credible?Using data collected from an online survey experiment, administered to 1,507 adult residents of Quebec, this paper seeks answers to these questions. Specifically, we examine variation in the way members of the public perceive the credibility of scientific experts in the areas of climate change, shale gas extraction, cell phones, and wind farms. Our results contribute to the existing literatures on public perceptions of policy experts, framing, and cultural theory. We find that individuals evaluate expert credibility based on the way in which experts frame issues, and on the congruity/dissonance between these expert communication frames and one's underlying worldview. However, we also identify limits to these framing effects. Our findings shed light on the interaction of framing and political worldviews in shaping public perceptions of expert credibility in various policymaking contexts.

PISA, policy and persuasion: translating complex conditions into education ‘best practice’

“…This second move is pursued indirectly by undermining critics, and below we highlight three strategies used to establish expertise (reputation and/or experience; scientific credentials; and genre knowledge). Credibility is also affected by whether the message resonates with individuals' pre-existing values and beliefs (Lachapelle et al 2014), underlining the limitations of advocate's influence in contexts where its core values are not shared, and the primary importance of establishing the frame. Having demonstrated the necessity and viability of the research ambition, advocates must still convince the reader to privilege their explanations over those of other experts.…”

Information, values and expert decision-making: the case of soil decontamination

“…For instance, one expert remarked, ''If there are few time constraints on the length of treatment, this method is no doubt the cheapest and most environmentally friendly.'' Such social and economic advantages should resonate with egalitarian values, which refer to a predisposition toward equitable social outcomes, and that have been found to influence the judgment of individuals, as well as those of experts (Jenkins-Smith et al 2009;Kahan et al 2011;Druckman and Bolsen 2011;Lachapelle et al 2014). The framing of phytoremediation thus enables an effective test of the importance of political values in the making of technical judgments.…”

“…Indeed, as noted above, the social and environmental advantages of this new technology are likely to resonate with environmental and egalitarian values. These values were measured with questions commonly used by public opinion scholars (Kahan et al 2011;Lachapelle et al 2014). For example, we measured egalitarian values on a six-point Likert scale asking respondents to indicate the extent to which they agreed with a statement suggesting that inequalities between rich and poor should be radically reduced.…”

Outreach and Engagement: Evolving Media and the Public Obligations of Stem Cell Science

“…Scientists may also be obligated to enhance public trust by ensuring adequate transparency about their work through outreach and engagement activities [22,23]. The rationale here can either be based on enhanced trust as a good in itself or as a necessary part of a societal Bcontract^that grants scientists certain privileges while creating obligations, including maintaining public trust in their work.…”