Emotion and Humor as Misinformation Antidotes
2021
Many visible public debates over scientific issues are clouded in accusations of falsehood, which place increasing demands on citizens to distinguish fact from fiction. Yet, constraints on our ability to detect misinformation coupled with our inadvertent motivations to believe false science result in a high likelihood that we will form misperceptions.
As science falsehoods are often presented with emotional appeals, the authors focus their perspective on the roles of emotion and humor in the formation of science attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. Recent research sheds light on how funny science and emotions can help explain and potentially overcome our inability or lack of motivation to recognize and challenge misinformation.
The authors identify some lessons learned from these related and growing areas of research and conclude with a brief discussion of the ethical considerations of using persuasive strategies, calling for more dialogue among members of the science communication community.
This description was extracted from the publication abstract.
Emotion and Humor as Misinformation Antidotes
Source:
Yeo SK, McKasy M. Emotion and Humor as Misinformation Antidotes. PNAS 2021; 118 (15). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002484118