Fostering public trust in science: The role of social media

Brigitte Huber; Matthew Barnidge; Homero Gil de Zúñiga; James Liu

doi:10.1177/0963662519869097

Fostering public trust in science: The role of social media

Brigitte Huber
, Matthew Barnidge
, Homero Gil de Zúñiga
, James Liu

Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

194 Scopus citations

Abstract

The growing importance of social media for getting science news has raised questions about whether these online platforms foster or hinder public trust in science. Employing multilevel modeling, this study leverages a 20-country survey to examine the relationship between social media news use and trust in science. Results show a positive relationship between these variables across countries. Moreover, the between-country variation in this relationship is related to two cultural characteristics of a country, individualism/collectivism and power distance.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	759-777
Number of pages	19
Journal	Public Understanding of Science
Volume	28
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662519869097
State	Published - Oct 1 2019

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Communication
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

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title = "Fostering public trust in science: The role of social media",

abstract = "The growing importance of social media for getting science news has raised questions about whether these online platforms foster or hinder public trust in science. Employing multilevel modeling, this study leverages a 20-country survey to examine the relationship between social media news use and trust in science. Results show a positive relationship between these variables across countries. Moreover, the between-country variation in this relationship is related to two cultural characteristics of a country, individualism/collectivism and power distance.",

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N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by Grant FA2386-15-1-0003 from the Asian Office of Aerospace Research and Development. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this study lies entirely with the authors. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2019.

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Fostering public trust in science: The role of social media

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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