Scientists have better influence on public than politicians

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-03-10 11:01

International

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An online experiment from Italy has found that people are more likely to accept Covid-19 lockdown restrictions when advice was given by scientists compared to politicians. When politicians and experts communicated together, people were less motivated to act in the public interest, suggesting that the choice of communicator is key for public compliance.

Media release

From: The Royal Society

Scientists recommending public health measures alongside politicians may reduce people’s compliance. This experiment analysed responses of 1,131 adults from Italy’s Lombardy region towards suggested measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, including a contact-tracing smartphone app and fines for non-compliance of facemasks. Recommendations were attributed to scientists, politicians or both, and the study found subjects were more supportive if the information was provided by scientists alone – and even chose to give up a lottery ticket to support front-line organisations.

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Journal/
conference: Royal Society Open Science

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Lund University, University of Milan, Linnaeus University

Funder: No funding has been received for this article

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