People with the greatest opposition to the scientific consensus tend to have the lowest levels of objective scientific knowledge, but the highest levels of self-rated knowledge, according to new research published in Science Advances. The results are in line with the Dunning-Kruger effect, a well-documented phenomenon in which people who lack skills or knowledge tend to overestimate their abilities.
“I’m interested in public understanding of science because it’s very important for social and environmental well-being,” said study author Nick Light, an assistant professor of marketing at Portland State University. “When people act against good science, people get sick, lose their homes, lose money, are displaced, or even die (as in the case of COVID, natural disasters, etc.). The best we can understand why people have attitudes against the scientific consensus, better scientists or politicians can design interventions to help people”.
In two initial studies, which included 3,249 American adults recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and Prolific Academic, participants were randomly assigned to indicate their level of support or opposition to one of seven scientific issues: climate change, genetically modified foods, nuclear energy , vaccination. , evolution, the Big Bang, or homeopathic medicine. Participants were asked to rate their understanding of the topic on a 7-point scale, ranging from “Vague understanding” to “Thorough understanding”.
To assess their scientific knowledge, participants answered 34 randomly ordered true-false questions. The questions included a wide range of scientific topics, including “True or false? The center of the earth is very hot”, “True or false? All insects have eight legs”, and “True or false? Venus is the planet closer to the sun.”
Light and his research team found that people who were most opposed to the scientific consensus on their given topic were more likely to claim to have a “thorough understanding.” But those who were most opposed to the scientific consensus tended to score worse on the test of objective scientific knowledge.
“Scientists are constantly debating the best ways to explain the world around us,” Light told PsyPost. “Sometimes, however, the evidence is so strong or consistent that most of them agree on something. This is what we call scientific consensus. In this paper we find that people who have attitudes that are more extremely against the scientific consensus they think they know the most about scientific problems, but in reality they know the least.”
The researchers also found some evidence that political polarization could weaken these relationships. For more politically polarized issues, the relationship between opposition to scientific consensus and objective knowledge was not as negative.
“The main caveat is that, although this pattern of effects appears to be quite general, we did not find it for all problems,” said Light. “A notable example is climate change. Our next steps include really digging deeper into psychology to try to understand why we don’t find these effects for some problems.”
In a third study, which included 1,173 adults from the United States, participants were given the opportunity to bet on their ability to score above average on the test of objective scientific knowledge. Consistent with previous studies, Light and his colleagues found that participants with more opposition to the scientific consensus tended to earn less due to overconfidence in the knowledge.
In a fourth study, which included 501 participants, researchers examined whether knowledge overconfidence was linked to willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The study was conducted in July 2020, before a vaccine was publicly available. Participants were asked about their willingness to receive a vaccination in the future and then rated their knowledge of how a COVID-19 vaccine works.
Participants then took a 23-question science knowledge test, which included six items about COVID-19, such as “True or false? COVID-19 is a type of bacteria” and “True or false? COVID-19 can be transmitted through houseflies.”
Light and his colleagues found that participants who were more opposed to receiving a vaccine tended to report having a greater understanding of how a COVID-19 vaccine works, but their general knowledge of science and COVID-19 tended to be worse
A fifth study of 695 participants, conducted in September 2020, found a similar pattern of results regarding COVID-19 mitigation policies. The results held even after controlling for political identity.
The researchers said the findings have some practical implications for science communicators and policy makers.
“Given that the most extreme opponents of the scientific consensus tend to be those who are most confident in their knowledge, fact-based educational interventions are less likely to be effective for this audience,” wrote Light and his colleagues. . “For example, the Ad Council conducted one of the largest public education campaigns in history in an effort to convince people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. If individuals with strong anti-vaccine beliefs already think they know everything what there is to know about vaccination and COVID-19, then the campaign is unlikely to persuade.
The study, “Knowledge overconfidence is associated with anti-consensus views on controversial scientific issues,” was written by Nicholas Light, Philip M. Fernbach, Nathaniel Rabb, Mugur V. Geana and Steven A. Sloman.
This path is the shortest and most unobscured when the writing is clear, concise and cohesive; therefore, the most sought after qualities in written communications are only those: CLARITY, COHESION, and CONCISENESS.
What are the 7 characteristics of scientific method?
The scientific method On the same subject : ZKW equips the new all-electric Volvo C40 with high-tech lights.
- Make an observation.
- Ask a question.
- Form a hypothesis, or testable explanation.
- Make a prediction based on the hypothesis.
- Test the prediction.
- Iterate: use the results to make new hypotheses or predictions.
What are the 8 characteristics of a scientific research? The nine main characteristics of science are as follows: Objectivity, verifiability, ethical neutrality, systematic exploration, reliability, precision, abstraction and predictability.
What are the 7 characteristics of scientific knowledge?
The main characteristics of scientific knowledge include the following: Empirical, Objective, Accuracy, Systematic, Ethical Consideration, Reliable, Predictable, Replicable, Controlled and having a definite purpose.
What are the 5 sources of knowledge?
According to Donald Ary (2010: 2-8), there are five major sources of knowledge. These are experience, authority, deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning and the scientific approach. Read also : Philidelphians are traveling again, even if they feel it’s “inevitable” they’ll come back with COVID. Experience is a familiar and well-used source of knowledge.
What are the main sources of knowledge? There are generally four sources of knowledge; intuition, authority, rational induction and empiricism.
Which is best source of knowledge?
“The teacher is the best source of knowledge” On the same subject : The New War on Science: 4 Reasons Why People Reject Good Data.
What are the six source of knowledge?
What are the sources of our knowledge in education? It seems to me that the six traditional ways of knowing, identified by philosophers – appeal to authority, intuition, formal logic, empiricism, pragmatism and skepticism – should all be applied to our efforts to know more about what is happening in education.
What are the characteristics of scientific knowledge quizlet?
Terms in this area (8) Scientific knowledge depends on EMPIRICAL VERIFICATION. Scientific knowledge is falsifiable. Scientific knowledge is NON-NORMATIVE. Scientific knowledge must be TRANSMISSIBLE.
What are some features of the scientific thinking quizlet? Scientific thinking involves characteristics such as curiosity, creativity, open-mindedness, skepticism, awareness of bias, honesty and ethics. One of the main characteristics that lead to new scientific knowledge. Come up with new ways to solve problems or produce new things.
What are the characteristics of scientific knowledge?
The main characteristics of scientific knowledge include the following: Empirical, Objective, Accuracy, Systematic, Ethical Consideration, Reliable, Predictable, Replicable, Controlled and having a definite purpose.
What are the five characteristics of scientific knowledge?
Five key descriptors for the scientific method are: empirical, replicable, provisional, objective and systematic.
What is the importance of scientific knowledge?
Scientific knowledge allows us to develop new technologies, solve practical problems, and make informed decisions – both individually and collectively. Because their products are so useful, the process of science is intertwined with those applications: New scientific knowledge can lead to new applications.
Why is it important that scientific knowledge changes? Scientific knowledge can change because it is often examined and reexamined by new scientific investigations and arguments. Because of these frequent examinations, scientific knowledge becomes stronger, leading to its durability.
What do you mean by scientific knowledge?
Scientific knowledge refers to a generalized body of laws and theories to explain a phenomenon or behavior of interest that are acquired using the scientific method. Laws are observed patterns of phenomena or behaviors, while theories are systematic explanations of the underlying phenomenon or behavior.
