What is it about?
When people decide whether to act on issues such as climate change, public health, or emerging technologies, they rarely hear from just one source. They simultaneously receive messages from scientists, fellow citizens, governments, and companies—and those messages often conflict. Across four studies involving more than 55,000 Americans, we found a remarkably consistent pattern across 10 different issues spanning the environmental, health, and technology domains: support from scientists and the public was the most persuasive combination. It shaped policy and product choices, increased real monetary donations, and improved engagement with social media messages. Crucially, this joint support remained influential even when government and industry opposed the same action.
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Why is it important?
Many urgent societal problems require public action at precisely the moment when governments or companies may delay, retreat from, or actively oppose solutions. Our findings show that this resistance does not have to bring public momentum to a halt. When scientists and the public communicate a shared position, they offer both evidence that a solution is well founded and reassurance that other people are willing to support it. This suggests a practical strategy for advocates, journalists, and civil-society organizations: make coalitions between experts and the public visible, clear, and difficult to ignore. The findings also challenge the assumption that top-down leadership (e.g., from governments and companies) is always the most influential force shaping public action.
Perspectives
This paper began with a question about how social influence operates in the real world. Social psychology often examines sources of influence in isolation—for example, how social norms among the public shape decisions, or how scientific consensus affects beliefs. Yet real-world information environments are far more complex: people simultaneously encounter signals from many entities in society like scientists, fellow citizens, governments, and companies. And those signals do not always agree. We wanted to understand how people navigate these competing voices, particularly when powerful institutions resist progress on critical issues like climate change, public health or regulating emergent technologies. We were encouraged by the consistency of the answer. Across environmental, health, and technology issues, scientists and members of the public were especially influential when their voices aligned. At a moment when progress on climate change, public health, and responsible technology feels increasingly uncertain, we find this deeply encouraging. Governments and corporations are powerful—but they are not the only forces capable of determining our collective direction. When scientific expertise and public will align, civil society can still lead.
Anandita Sabherwal
Princeton University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Combined signals of scientific and social consensus best mobilize action on societal challenges even if government and industry oppose, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2533408123.
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