Interpretation
This study examined the effects of normative language using very specific parameters: a single exposure to normative plus cognitive language from a study in comparison to cognitive language alone, at a dose of at least 30 seconds. Further, the exposure specifically pertained to a topic that is highly politicized in US culture (COVID-19 face masks). In those specific circumstances, At the same time, we note that political orientation had an extremely strong, negative association with our measures in this study, regardless of the study arm. We also note that except in the case of the aggregated measure (overall trust in science and scientists), there was a clear, visible intersection (The shape of the data does cause us to wonder whether the following questions might be important to study:Are there very small differences (eg, smaller than we were able to test in this study) between how political liberals and political conservatives perceive normative language, such that single exposures increase trust and credibility among liberals and reduce it among conservatives?If the answer to the above question is yes, do such effects matter individually, and is there a cumulative effect of such exposures, such that the very small effect sizes observed for single exposures are summative or multiplicative in impact over time?Given the prima facie evidence that cognitive claims and normative claims are different, and the importance of understanding trust in science and scientists, and credibility thereof, we believe that additional probative studies (such as those described above) are important and may be useful. Debates about science communication are international in scope and can have high stakes. As an example, we point to a recently published postmortem review of Sweden’s COVID-19 policy, which lays out the complexity of scientific and policy interaction; although not its primary purpose, that document shows some ways in which cognitive and normative claims can be bundled together in high-stakes communication and decision making [However, after considering the totality of our study results, we note that substantive shifts in perceived trust or credibility appear unlikely to manifest in response to 