Enter Dave Wilson, Ph.D.—climate scientist, Facebook user, and work of fiction. In 2014, Kotcher recruited a nationally representative sample of 1,235 Americans, and introduced them to Wilson, billing him as either a climate scientist or a TV weathercaster. Each volunteer read one of six randomly selected Facebook posts, in which Wilson asked them to check out an interview that he had done with the Associated Press.

The topic of the interviews, as described by Wilson, varied along a spectrum of advocacy. In the first, he simply discussed the recent finding about rising carbon dioxide levels. In the second, he talked about the risks and health impacts of climate change. In the third, he discussed the pros and cons of various policy options. In the fourth, he urged people to take action, without championing specific policies. And in the final two, he outrightly endorsed one of two actions: cutting carbon emissions, or building more nuclear power plants.

Dave Wilson, shameless self-promoter

(Kotcher et al., 2017)

By surveying the volunteers afterwards, Kotcher found that almost all of Wilson’s statements had the same effect as each other. Whether he was sticking to the facts or pleading for action, the volunteers found him to be equally credible. His increasing advocacy didn’t change their view of the broader climate community, or their support for funding climate research. “We were pretty surprised,” he says. “Conventional wisdom till this point would have suggested that crossing the line from being purely informative to advocating for specific policies would harm a scientist’s credibility.” And that wasn’t the case.

The volunteers did feel that Wilson’s calls to action were more politically motivated than his statements of fact, and more intended to persuade rather than inform. It’s just that none of that affected his credibility. And although Wilson was predictably seen as less credible by conservatives compared to liberals, neither group was influenced by the degree of his advocacy. His standing only fell when the specifically advocated for nuclear plants. Even then, people found him more credible than not, and they doubted him not because he was taking a specific stance, but because they disputed what he was saying.

“The study suggests that scientists may have more flexibility to engage in issue advocacy without risking their standing in the public eye than they may realize,” writes Simon Donner from the University of British Columbia, in an accompanying commentary. Indeed, surveys have repeatedly shown that scientists are among the most trusted groups in America—a standing that gives them some leeway to state their opinions without harming their reputations. If anything, “public audiences are arguably more comfortable with advocacy by scientists than scientists are with advocacy by scientists,” Donner argues.