Face Masks Might Protect You From COVID-19: The Communication of Scientific Uncertainty by Scientists Versus Politicians in the Context of Policy in the Making

• DOI: 10.1177/0261927x211044512
• Publication Date: 2021-09-24T18:04:48Z
• Authors: Inse Janssen; Friederike Hendriks; Regina Jucks
• Keywords: Trustworthiness; Scientific evidence; Uncertainty; 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak; Fake News

Scientific knowledge is intrinsically uncertain; hence, it can only provide a tentative orientation for political decisions. One illustrative example the discussion that has taken place on introducing mandatory mask-wearing to contain coronavirus. In this context, study investigates how communication of uncertainty regarding effectiveness affects perceived trustworthiness communicators. Participants ( N = 398) read fictitious but evidence-based text supporting mask-wearing. First, epistemic was communicated by including high (vs. low) amount lexical hedges (LHs) (e.g., “maybe”). Second, we varied whether source information scientist or politician. Thereafter, participants rated source's trustworthiness. Results show as more competent and having integrity not benevolent than The use LHs did impact ratings.