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1. Predicting Intentions to Engage With Scientific Messages on Twitter: The Roles of Mirth and Need for Humor

   https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547020942512  

   Yeo, Sara_K; Su, Leona_Yi-Fan; Cacciatore, Michael_A; McKasy, Meaghan; Qian, Sijia (July 2020, Science Communication)

   Although humor is a recommended strategy for scientists to connect with publics, there is a lack of empirical evidence concerning its effectiveness. We conduct an experiment to test how funny science on Twitter affects engagement intentions. We find that different humor types caused viewers to experience different levels of mirth, which mediated the relationship between our experimental manipulation and engagement intentions. We also find need for humor, an individual trait, to moderate the relationship between mirth and engagement intentions. These findings extend our understanding of humor in science communication and offer empirical evidence on which practical advice can be grounded. 

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2. Emotion and humor as misinformation antidotes

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002484118  

   Yeo, Sara K.; McKasy, Meaghan (April 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   null (Ed.)

   Many visible public debates over scientific issues are clouded in accusations of falsehood, which place increasing demands on citizens to distinguish fact from fiction. Yet, constraints on our ability to detect misinformation coupled with our inadvertent motivations to believe false science result in a high likelihood that we will form misperceptions. As science falsehoods are often presented with emotional appeals, we focus our perspective on the roles of emotion and humor in the formation of science attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. Recent research sheds light on how funny science and emotions can help explain and potentially overcome our inability or lack of motivation to recognize and challenge misinformation. We identify some lessons learned from these related and growing areas of research and conclude with a brief discussion of the ethical considerations of using persuasive strategies, calling for more dialogue among members of the science communication community. 

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3. "That's some positive energy": how social media users respond to #funny science content

   https://doi.org/10.22323/2.23010202  

   Cacciatore, Michael A.; Yeo, Sara K.; Su, Leona Yi-Fan; McKasy, Meaghan; O'Neill, Liane; Qian, Sijia (January 2024, Journal of Science Communication)

   Many scientists make use of social media and take various approaches to humor in their posts to encourage online public engagement, yet little is known about how publics respond to particular types of online science humor. This study investigates the behavioral effects of the presence of different types of science humor, specifically anthropomorphism, wordplay, and the two combined, shared by a scientist on Twitter. Individuals who experienced higher levels of mirth after exposure to humorous science content were more likely to leave a comment on the social media post. Additionally, individuals' need for cognition moderated the relationship between humor exposure and mirth, as well as the relationship between mirth and leaving a comment. These results and future research are discussed. 

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4. Sharing Stress With a Robot: What Would a Robot Say?

   https://doi.org/10.30658/hmc.1.8  

   Ling, Honson; Björling, Elin (February 2020, Human-Machine Communication)

   With the prevalence of mental health problems today, designing human-robot interaction for mental health intervention is not only possible, but critical. The current experiment examined how three types of robot disclosure (emotional, technical, and by-proxy) affect robot perception and human disclosure behavior during a stress-sharing activity. Emotional robot disclosure resulted in the lowest robot perceived safety. Post-hoc analysis revealed that increased perceived stress predicted reduced human disclosure, user satisfaction, robot likability, and future robot use. Negative attitudes toward robots also predicted reduced intention for future robot use. This work informs on the possible design of robot disclosure, as well as how individual attributes, such as perceived stress, can impact human robot interaction in a mental health context. 

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5. How do we design curricula to foster innovation, motivation, and interest in STEM learning?

   Calabrese, J.E.; Songer, N.B.; Cordner, H.; & Aina, D.K. Jr. (October 2023, Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching and Learning)

   Emerald Insight (Ed.)

   Abstract Purpose The authors designed a science and engineering curricular program that includes design features that promote student interest and motivation and examined teachers' and students' views on meaningfulness, motivation and interest. Design/methodology/approach The research approach consisted of mixed methods, including content analyses and descriptive statistics. Findings The curricular program successfully included all four of the US National Academies of Sciences' design features for promoting interest and motivation through scientific investigation and engineering design. During interviews, teachers and students expressed evidence of design features associated with interest and motivation. After experiencing the program, more than 60% of all students scored high on all four science and engineering meaningfulness and interest survey items. Originality/value A curricular program that extends science learning through the engineered design of solutions is an innovative approach to foster both conceptual knowledge development and interest and motivation in science and engineering. 

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