Facilitating Scientific Communication Between Strangers
A Preregistered Lost E-Mail Experiment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22004205 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Thomas I Vaughan-Johnston (0000-0002-4682-481X, Durham University, corresponding author), Devin I Fowlie (0000-0003-1827-511X, Queen's University), Jill A Jacobson (0000-0001-7794-8543, Queen's University) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 424-431 |
| Publication date | 2022-07-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2152-2715 • E-ISSN: 2152-2723 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1089/cyber.2021.0272 |
| PMID | 35467948 |
| OpenAlex | W4224326691 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 39 |
Communication scholars are increasingly concerned about biases that shape people's interactions with science. Past study has focused on echo chambers (cultivating social networks that reinforce existing worldviews). People's facilitation of scientific discourse between strangers also may be shaped by their attitudes. To study the latter, we employed a recent adaptation of Milgram's lost letter technique called the lost e-mail technique (LET). We conducted a preregistered field study using a large undergraduate university sample (N = 1,508) to examine how the LET might elucidate people's treatment of scientific information. We distributed four ostensibly misaddressed scientific messages and monitored the likelihood of these e-mails being facilitated by participants. Participants' beliefs about self-esteem's importance, assessed months earlier, were associated with increased facilitation of scientific claims congruent with (vs. incongruent with) these beliefs. Thus, people shape the spread of online information in a manner matching their beliefs, even for people outside their social networks
Facilitation · Milgram experiment · Obedience · Social facilitation · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Media Influence and Health · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Psychology
Republic
Analysis and Improvement of the Measurement of Interpersonal Attraction and Homophily
Shared identity and shared information in social media
Reflecting on Six Decades of Selective Exposure Research
Does High Self-Esteem Cause Better Performance, Interpersonal Success, Happiness, or Healthier Lifestyles?
A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality.
Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook
Naïve beliefs shape emotional reactions to evaluative feedback
Are you passing along something true or false? Dissemination of social media messages about genetically modified organisms
Turn a Blind Eye If You Care
Back to the Future of Dissonance Theory
Assessing the Correspondence between Experimental Results Obtained in the Lab and Field
Urban Size Differences in Incidence of Altruistic Behavior
"Comment on "A Failure to Validate the Lost Letter Technique
You've got mail
Distinguishing the cognitive and behavioral consequences of attitude importance and certainty
Wanting other attitudes
The “false consensus effect”
The Lost-Letter Technique
A Validation of the Lost-Letter Technique
Media Use and Political Predispositions
Statistical difficulties of detecting interactions and moderator effects
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |