Enhancing Resilience to Fake News through the Promotion of Trust in Science

Abstract

In the context of media, reliability is one of the most important factors of perceiving information, however it is difficult to find explicit and undisputed reliability, because it depends on receivers’ perception, their competences and critical attitudes. The main objective of this research is to assess science audience in Lithuania by conducting a segmental analysis of the Lithuanian population (representative sample (n=1000)) and to formulate science communication strategies targeting newly constructed science audience segments, linked to user profiles. Studies examining attitudes towards science have been routinely conducted in numerous countries (Eurobarometer, 2005; OST and Wellcome Trust, 2000), revealing that trust in science as an information source depends on citizens' political beliefs, economic and social statuses (Funk, 2017). Further differentiation is observed between urban and rural populations (Kawamoto et al., 2013), variations in knowledge across scientific disciplines in response to sociodemographic characteristics (Kristiansen et al., 2016), and a positive correlation between interest in science and the intensity of online science knowledge seeking activities (Nisbet et al., 2002). Additionally, research indicates that the ability to distinguish between scientific and fake news is positively correlated with critical thinking skills, the capacity to verify information, and the selection of reliable information sources (Wagner, Boczkowski, 2019). Despite compelling evidence illustrating significant differences among science audiences with respect to age, gender, education, and other factors, there is a paucity of research focusing on their organization into scientifically valid segments. Moreover, research shows that in order to ensure effective science communication and education, it is important to take into account the importance of the population's cognitive (Tang, 2017), developmental (Blumberg, Brooks. 2017), motivational, and experiential (Burch et al, 2019), and even personality and emotional (Eligio, 2017) factors. The originality of this research stems from its emphasis on segmenting the science audience based not only on sociodemographic characteristics but also on cognitive, personality, and behavioral variables (Lotenberg et al., 2011). This approach to clustering has been applied only s in the international context (Guenther and Weingart, 2017; Kawamoto et al., 2013). Moreover, it identifies factors that either strengthen or weaken constructive attitudes towards science and critical attitudes towards fake news. Following the development and adaptation of a multidimensional research instrument, four population Business Systems Laboratory- Book of Abstracts ISBN: 9791298547605 9 th Int. Symposium – Varese 2025 57 segments were defined and the user profiles created by linking 3 components: cognitive factors (attitudes towards science, attitudes towards fake news), behavioural factors (information search and media use) and personality variables. This analysis, uncovering relatively stable associations between subjects' attitudes toward scientific knowledge and their cognitive, personal, and behavioral characteristics (RoserRenou, 2016), represents a novel, valuable, and informative contribution for shaping science communication and education policies for counteracting fake news.