# Navigating the credibility risks of environmental scientists’ activism

## TL;DR

This paper examines how activism by environmental scientists affects public perceptions of their credibility and competence.

## Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence on the credibility risks of environmental scientists' activism, particularly civil disobedience.

## Key findings

- Scientists engaging in activism are perceived as slightly less competent and more hypocritical than those in public science communication.
- Civil disobedience by scientists leads to reduced trust in their field and lower perceived persuasiveness.
- Activism results in small but consistent credibility costs for environmental scientists.

## Abstract

Cost-benefit analyses of whether environmental scientists should engage in activism currently rest on a thin empirical base, despite a lively debate on the topic. There are several potential benefits of scientists’ activism, but some have argued that these benefits might be offset by the potential for activism to undermine public perception of environmental scientists as unbiased and competent. To explore these potential consequences, we asked participants to read two (ostensibly real) profiles of climate scientists that either described themselves as activists or not. Study 1 (N = 491) found that a scientist who engaged in conventional activism was seen as slightly less competent and more hypocritical than a scientist who engaged in public science communication, but there was no impact on their persuasiveness. Study 2 (N = 636, pre-registered) found that a scientist who engaged in civil disobedience, a more disruptive form of activism, was seen as less competent and more hypocritical than a non-activist scientist who only engaged in teaching and research, with predicted spill-over effects on trust in the scientist’s field. Scientist activists were also downgraded on a range of other dimensions. We conclude that engaging in activism has small but reliable costs for environmental scientists.

Environmental scientists’ activism – especially civil disobedience – leads to modest declines in their perceived competence and a subtle withdrawal from the scientists’ cause.