Misinformation has come to the fore in recent years, with the pandemic shining a particularly powerful light on the matter.  Research from the University of Pennsylvania highlighted the power of humor in news coverage to help combat it.

The study found that when viewers watched both humorous and non-humorous news clips, they were significantly more likely to share the humorous stories.  While that’s perhaps to be expected, the content was also remembered better from the humorous content.

“For democracy to work, it is really important for people to engage with news and politics and to be informed about public affairs,” the researchers say. “We wanted to test whether humor might make news more socially relevant, and therefore motivate people to remember it and share it.”

A second study, from the University of Utah, suggests the same may also be true of science communication.  The researchers highlight that limited science literacy among the public combined with a dwindling number of science journalists has created a situation whereby it’s hard to discern fact from fiction.

Using mental shortcuts

The paper highlights how we tend to use mental shortcuts to sift through information, with these shortcuts forged by everything from religion to political ideology.

“Misinformation is often packaged or framed in simplistic and emotional ways,” the researchers say. “Consider online ‘clickbait’ as an example: Such content often has captivating titles that promote seemingly scandalous information. This encourages the use of mental shortcuts, which can make detecting and parsing falsehoods a challenge.”

The authors argue that clickbait can arouse strong emotions within us that can hamper our ability to process information rationally.  The effect of these emotions on spotting misinformation is not straightforward, however.  Nonetheless, the researchers believe that humor can be a useful strategy in science communication, just as the previous research found it was for regular news.

Why humor is powerful

Humor is a ubiquitous part of daily life, and despite preconceptions, science is no exception.  Indeed, science jokes are commonplace online under hashtags such as #fieldworkfail and #overlyhonestmethods. While humor can be powerful, the researchers believe it needs to better understood in order to gauge how it can influence attitudes towards science.

“Funny science can draw attention to issues that might not be on the public’s agenda and may even help direct attention to valuable and accurate information embedded within a joke,” they explain. “Humor also impacts how we process information about science to form attitudes and behavioral intentions.”

Humor is strongly linked to our ability to evaluate the source of information as it can make a source seem more human and likable.  Scientists who use humor are found to be not only more likable but still able to retain their credibility as an expert.

While the problem of science misinformation isn’t an easy one to solve, it may well be that humor can play an effective role in making accurate science more accessible and relatable.

“Understanding how emotion and humor shape the public’s understanding of science is one more resource that can aid communicators’ efforts to combat misinformation,” the researchers conclude. “Of course, strategies must be used ethically and how best practices are translated from research depends on the communication goals. It is essential that we engage in dialogue about the ethical considerations that face science communication in the digital media era.”