Perceptions of Scientists and Scientific Beliefs - United States National Representative Survey 2023

The credibility of sources, including environmental health (EH) specialists such as scientists, researchers, or educators, plays a crucial role in shaping public opinions. A key component of source credibility is goodwill, which reflects the perception that a source is unbiased or driven by a commitment to the public good. Audiences skeptical of a source's credibility are more inclined to dismiss their messages and disregard their recommendations. Therefore, effective communication of science-based findings by EH specialists is essential for these findings to be actionable and contribute to promoting healthy lives. In partnership with the Texas A&M Center for Environmental Health Research (TiCER), the study aims to explore the factors influencing goodwill and source credibility and examine how signaling goodwill impacts the source credibility of environmental health specialists.

信息来源的可信度，包括环境健康（Environmental Health, EH）专家——如科学家、研究人员与教育工作者——在塑造公众舆论的过程中发挥着至关重要的作用。来源可信度的核心构成要素之一是善意（goodwill），其体现为受众感知到该来源秉持无偏立场，或是出于对公共利益的承诺而开展传播。对信息来源可信度存疑的受众，更倾向于否定其传递的信息并无视其提出的相关建议。因此，环境健康专家对基于科学的研究发现进行有效传播，是让这些发现具备可操作性，并助力提升公众健康水平的必要前提。本研究与德州农工大学环境健康研究中心（Texas A&M Center for Environmental Health Research, TiCER）展开合作，旨在探究影响善意与信息来源可信度的各类因素，并检验传递善意的行为如何对环境健康专家的来源可信度产生影响。