Niels G. Mede

Generalizability of choice architecture interventions Nature Reviews Psychology - Choice architecture interventions (or ‘nudges’) aim to guide behaviour by changing the proximal physical, social or psychological environment. In this...

🧵 Can you predict whether behavioral interventions will work in new contexts?

… probably not, right?

In our new paper with @dggoldst.bsky.social @dilipsoman.bsky.social @susanmichie.bsky.social, we dive into how to better understand and improve generalizability. rdcu.be/ewD2z

Summary👇

It’s not just social media algorithms that determine whether content goes viral.

Research by @steverathje.bsky.social and @jayvanbavel.bsky.social finds how the psychology of spreaders and consumers interacts with the environment also significantly influences virality:

buff.ly/q17VnXN

Which is why the way reporting is done is crucial... "We find: It’s not necessarily firsthand experience of extreme weather events. Instead, it’s whether people think that these events are linked to climate change."

An agenda for science communication research and practice | PNAS Science should not unilaterally dictate individuals’ decisions or public policies. Yet, it provides a vital source of information for societies and...

What if science communication wasn’t just about facts—but about trust, humility & shared values? This new agenda from PNAS calls for participatory models to replace top-down fixes. In this ultra-polarized environment, it’s about co-creation, not just correction. What are your thoughts? 🧪🧬🔬

Excellent new study in @actapolitica.bsky.social: @roderikrekker.bsky.social uses 15 years of representative panel survey data (2007-2022, n = 19,084) to show how science skepticism is linked to political discontent in the Netherlands ⬇️

Experiencing extreme weather and disasters is not enough to change views on climate action, study shows A 70,000-person global study found understanding how events such as fires and floods are linked to climate change may be a key driver of support for climate action.

Thanks a lot to everyone involved, especially our lead author @colognaviktoria.bsky.social! 🙏

And please feel free to check out @omidghasemi.bsky.social’s excellent piece in @theconversation.com, which includes a great summary and very nice visuals: theconversation.com/experiencing...

This study is based on a great collaboration of our #TISP consortium and @simonameiler.bsky.social, Chahan Kropf, @samluethi.bsky.social and David N. Bresch (@ethz.ch). @colognaviktoria.bsky.social and I joined forces with them to combine our worldwide survey data with their climate modelling data 🤝

Extreme weather event attribution predicts climate policy support across the world - Nature Climate Change Literature produced inconsistent findings regarding the links between extreme weather events and climate policy support across regions, populations and events. This global study offers a holistic asse...

New paper: What increases people’s support for policy responses to #climate #change? ✊
We find: It’s not necessarily firsthand experience of extreme weather events. Instead, it’s whether people think that these events are linked to climate change. Here is the paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🔎

Danke!

Thanks, Sarah!

Extreme weather event attribution predicts climate policy support across the world - Nature Climate Change Literature produced inconsistent findings regarding the links between extreme weather events and climate policy support across regions, populations and events. This global study offers a holistic asse...

🚨 How do exposure to extreme weather events and the subjective attribution of these events to climate change relate to climate policy support across the world? 🔥🌎

Find out more in our OA article published in Nature Climate Change 👇 1/7 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Ade Zürich, hallo #Wageningen! This week I started my new position as Assistant Professor at @w-u-r.bsky.social ✨
Thanks a lot for the warm welcome – I'm very excited about what’s ahead! At the same time, I'm very grateful for the years I spent at @ikmz.bsky.social. Merci vielmal und uf widerluege 🫶

This was a remarkable milestone in our careers, and the next steps look very promising with our TISP leaders @colognaviktoria.bsky.social and @nielsmede.bsky.social.

If you haven’t read our article yet, it’s fully open access.

#PhilSky #AcademicSky

Title page of the preprint

🤔 How much do politicians engage with academic researchers online?

In my latest paper, I find that politicians from 12 countries rarely engage with researchers on social media, but this can change when expertise gains salience

Preprint: osf.io/preprints/osf/wqbe4_v1

🧵👇

Young adults who overestimate their knowledge about climate change try to reach out to politicians and persuade others more often. This is what we find in our brand new OA paper. See @nielsmede.bsky.social amazing thread for more info 👇

The Climate Change Generation: Vocal but Overconfident? How Young Adults Who Overestimate Their Climate Knowledge Use Social Media and Engage With Others - Niels G. Mede, Lara Kobilke, Nayla Fawzi, Th... Research suggests that social media can cause users, especially young adults, to overestimate their knowledge about climate change. Knowledge overestimation may...

ℹ️ More details?
Check out the paper for more results and info on the methods: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
All analyses reproducible with open data and materials: osf.io/qkrm3

Thanks a lot, Lara, Nayla, and Thomas – it’s been a pleasure working with you! 🙏
#climatecomm #scicomm #Wisskomm

🔎 How did we test this?
We conducted a four-wave panel #survey of 18- to 29-year-olds in #Germany (n = 1,309) in Feb-Aug 2022 and used Bayesian within-between regressions and cross-lagged panel models to get (tentative) evidence on causal effects.

🤷 What are other reasons for knowledge overestimation, if not social media use? We find: Low #information #overload may be one reason. Trust in others’ social media comments and the news-find-me perception are also linked to overestimation, but not causally.

📱 Is #overestimation related to using social media more often? We find: Yes, particularly using influencer profiles and messaging services as an information source, but there is no causal relationship.

We wondered:
🗣️ Are young adults more outspoken about climate change if they overestimate how much they know about it? We find: Not in general, but they try to reach out to politicians and persuade others more often.

Published in Social Media + Society: Our 4-wave panel #survey on the relationship between #socialmedia and misperceptions of one’s knowledge about #climate #change – co-authored with @larakobilke.bsky.social @naylafawzi.bsky.social #ThomasZerback: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... ✨

" #scicomm in the face of attacks: Discussing harassment of scholars and practitioners and potential support measures."
Fabien Medvecky, @nielsmede.bsky.social , @jlegelhofer.bsky.social , Bernard Okebe, Alice Fleerackers and Tom Carruthers

Public engagement in science en 68 países, parte de los resultados del proyecto TISP en el que hemos participado desde FECYT y que presenta @nielsmede.bsky.social en #PCST2025
Preprint: www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Lay Preferences for and Perceptions of Intellectual Humility Across Societal Roles | Social Cognition Research on intellectual humility (IH)—the awareness of one's intellectual limitations—demonstrates that high levels of self-reported IH are associated with behaviors that are broadly beneficial for i...

New paper alert! Published in Social Cognition, people want experts to be intellectually humble, but see all these experts as falling short of this ideal level of intellectual humility. We discuss implications for person perception and public trust.

Full paper here: doi.org/10.1521/soco...

🌍What does global trust in science really look like in 2025?

Read our new piece by Jordyn Wald summarizing research by @colognaviktoria.bsky.social, @nielsmede.bsky.social and dozens of other researchers around the world in @nathumbehav.nature.com:

🔗 bit.ly/4kcgTV6 🔗

Niels Mede, University of Zurich - Is There a Crisis of Trust in Science? - The Academic Minute When it comes to trust in science, it depends where you look. Niels Mede, science communication researcher at the University of Zurich, delves in. Niels G. Mede is a postdoctoral researcher at the Uni...

Science communication meets poetry: I was invited to contribute an audio essay about our study on trust in scientists to “The Academic Minute” by @wamcradio.bsky.social, hosted by @aacu.org President Lynn Pasquerella. Thanks a lot for having me! 🎙️

🔗 academicminute.org/niels-mede-u... #scicomm #TISP

Now available Guidelines for good Research Communication. Bundesverband Hochschulkommunikation und Wissenschaft im Dialog

The Guidelines for good Research Communication are now available in English. They provide orientation and support for research communicators. They specify the roles and responsibilities of the actors involved and include a checklist for practice.
📄 wissenschaft-im-dialog.de/documents/42...
#SciComm

Most Americans use federal science information on a weekly basis, a new poll finds Most Americans frequently use federal science information. But few are concerned that cuts to federal science spending could affect their access to such information, a new poll finds.

"On a weekly basis more than 90% of people use weather forecasts, job market reports, food safety warnings and other information that is based on federal science. But only 10% ... are concerned that cuts to federal support for science might impact their access to [it]."
www.npr.org/2025/05/06/n...

Excited to present a workshop on misinfo at the “Listen, Engage, Connect: Explore the Science Communication Arena” Summer School at the University of Geneva. Runs from June 23-27. Ideal for students, early-career researchers, science communicators. Register before 31 May at bit.ly/scicomm25

I cowrote a column in @nature.com about the need for scientists to secure public trust in an age of polarization

We discussed strategies that could restore trust in research and encouraged more research on the topic.

You can read the full column here:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...