Public Communication about Science in 68 Countries: Global Evidence on How People Encounter and Engage with Information about Science

Mede, Niels G.; Cologna, Viktoria; Berger, Sebastian; C. Besley, John; Brick, Cameron; Joubert, Marina; W. Maibach, Edward; Mihelj, Sabina; Oreskes, Naomi; S. Schäfer, Mike; van der Linden, Sander; Abdul Aziz, Nor Izzatina; Abdulsalam, Suleiman; Abu Shamsi, Nurulaini; Aczel, Balazs; Adinugroho, Indro; Alabrese, Eleonora; Aldoh, Alaa; Alfano, Mark; Mbulli Ali, Innocent; Alsobay, Mohammed; Altenmüller, Marlene; Alvarez, R. Michael; Ansah, Patrick; Apriliawati, Denisa; Azevedo, Flavio; Bajrami, Ani; Bardhan, Ronita; Bati, Keagile; Bertsou, Eri; Bhui, Rahul; Białobrzeska, Olga; Bilewicz, Michal; Bouguettaya, Ayoub; Breeden, Katherine; Bret, Amélie; Buchel, Ondrej; Cabrera Alvarez, Pablo; Cagnoli, Federica; Calero Valdez, André; Callaghan, Timothy; Kaye Cases, Rizza; Czarnek, Gabriela; Debnath, Ramit; Delouvée, Sylvain; Di Stefano, Lucia; Diaz-Catalàn, Celia; C. Doell, Kimberly; Dohle, Simone; M. Douglas, Karen; Dubrov, Dmitrii; Dzimińska, Malgorzata; K. H. Ecker, Ullrich; T. Elbaek, Christian; Elsherif, Mahmoud; Enke, Benjamin; Facciani, Matthew; Fage-Butler, Antoinette; Faisal, Md. Zaki; Fan, Xiaoli; Farhart, Christina; Feldhaus, Christoph; Ferreira, Marinus; Feuerriegel, Stefan; Fischer, Helen; Freundt, Jana; Friese, Malte; Gallyamova, Albina; E. Garrido Vásquez, Mauricio; Garrido-Vásquez, Patricia; Genschow, Oliver; Ghasemi, Omid; Gkinopoulos, Theofilos; L. Gloor, Jamie; Goddard, Ellen; González Brambila, Claudia; Gordon, Hazel; Grigoryev, Dmitry; Guenther, Lars; Harari, Dana; Hensel, Przemysław; Hernández-Mondragón, Alma Cristal; Herziger, Atar; Huang, Guanxiong; Huff, Markus; Hurley, Mairéad; Ibadildin, Nygmet; Tarikul Islam, Mohammad; Jeddi, Younes; Jin, Tao; A. Jones, Charlotte; Jungkunz, Sebastian; Jurgiel, Dominika; Kavassalis, Sarah; R. Kerr, John; Kitsa, Mariana; Klabíková Rábová, Tereza; Klein, Olivier; Koh, Hoyoun; Koivula, Aki; Kojan, Lilian; Komyaginskaya, Elizaveta; König, Laura; Koppel, Lina; Koren, Kochav; Kosachenko, Alexandra; Kotcher, John; S. Kranz, Laura; Krishnan, Pradeep; Kristiansen, Silje; Krouwel, André; Kuppens, Toon; Lamm, Claus; Lantian, Anthony; Lazić, Aleksandra; Légal, Jean-Baptiste; Leviston, Zoe; Levy, Neil; M. Lindkvist, Amanda; López Ortega, Alberto; Lopez-Villavicencio, Carlos; Löschel, Andreas; Mantou Lou, Nigel; H. Lucas, Chloe; Lunz-Trujillo, Kristin; D. Marques, Mathew; J. Mayer, Sabrina; McKay, Ryan; Metag, Julia; L. Milfont, Taciano; M. Miller, Joanne; Mitkidis, Panagiotis; Monge-Rodríguez, Fredy; Motta, Matt; Muršič, Zarja; Namutebi, Jennifer; J. Newman, Eryn; P. Nitschke, Jonas; Ntui-Njock, Vincent Ntui; Nwogwugwu, Daniel; Ostermann, Thomas; Otterbring, Tobias; Palmer-Hague, Jaime; Pantazi, Myrto; Pärnamets, Philip; Parra Saiani, Paolo; Paruzel-Czachura, Mariola; Parzuchowski, Michal; G. Pavlov, Yuri; R. Pearson, Adam; Penner, Myron A.; R. Pennington, Charlotte; Petkanopoulou, Katerina; B. Petrović, Marija; Pisareva, Dinara; Ploszaj, Adam; Pronizius, Ekaterina; Pštross, Karolína; Pypno-Blajda, Katarzyna; A. Quiñones, Diwa Malaya; Räsänen, Pekka; Rauchfleisch, Adrian; G. Rebitschek, Felix; Refojo Seronero, Cintia; Rêgo, Gabriel; Reynolds, James P.; Roche, Joseph; Philipp Röer, Jan; M. Ross, Robert; Ruin, Isabelle; Santos, Osvaldo; R. Santos, Ricardo; Schulreich, Stefan; Scoggins, Bermond; Shuckburgh, Emily; Six, Johan; Solak, Nevin; Späth, Leonhard; Spruyt, Bram; Standaert, Olivier; K. Stanley, Samantha; Strahm, Noel; Syropoulos, Stylianos; Szaszi, Barnabas; Szumowska, Ewa; Tanaka, Mikihito; Teran-Escobar, Claudia; Todorova, Boryana; Kafid Toko, Abdoul; Tokrri, Renata; Toribio-Florez, Daniel; Tsakiris, Manos; Tyrala, Michael; Melis Uluğ, Özden; Chinwe Uzoma, Ijeoma; van Noord, Jochem; Verheyen, Steven; Vilares, Iris; Vlasceanu, Madalina; Bubnoff, Andreas von; Warwas, Izabela; Walker, Iain; Weber, Marcel; Weninger, Tim; Westfal, Mareike; Dominik Wojcik, Adrian; Xia, Ziqian; Xie, Jinliang; Zegler-Poleska, Ewa; Zwaan, Rolf A.

Abstract

This 68-country survey (n = 71,922) examines science information diets and communication behavior, identifies cross-country differences, and tests how such differences are associated with sociopolitical and economic conditions. We find that social media are the most used sources of science information in most countries, except those with democratic-corporatist media systems where news media tend to be used more widely. People in collectivist societies are less outspoken about science in daily life, whereas lower education is associated with higher outspokenness. Limited access to digital media is correlated with participation in public protests on science matters. We discuss implications for future research, policy, and practice.