Press Coverage

NCA Communication Currents article on role model messages to address the issue of women’s underrepresentation in STEM careers

  • Study referenced: Luong, K. T., Knobloch-Westerwick, S., & Niewiesk, S. (2019). Superstars within reach: The role of perceived attainability and role congruity in media role models on women’s social comparisons. Communication Monographs. Advanced online publication. doi: 10.1080/03637751.2019.1622143

International press coverage on the process through which the lay public engaged in informal science learning from entertainment narratives

  • Study referenced: Luong, K. T., Moyer-Guse, E., & McKnight, J. (2020). Let’s go to the movies…for science! The impact of entertainment narratives on science knowledge, interest, and trust. Journal of Media Psychology. Advanced online publication. doi: 10.1027/1864-1105/a000272
  • English translation:
    • Watch films for science

      Entertainment media such as films and TV series are an important point of contact for many people in everyday life with scientific content. However, little is known about the effects of these media on the understanding of science. In a recent study , communication scientists led by Kate Luong from Ohio State University researched how a filmic narration of astrophysics affects the audience.

      Methodology:After a preliminary test, half of the 205 test subjects saw a 45-minute excerpt from “Interstellar”, a science fiction film released in 2014, in which the Nobel Prize for Physics Kip Thorne participated as a scientific advisor. The remaining participants saw instead part of the thriller “The Lincoln Lawyer” (in German “The Client”). After the video, the test subjects’ knowledge of the subject was asked and, among other things, they were asked to state how much they had felt involved in the plot and how interested they were in the topic of astrophysics. A newly developed questionnaire was used to find out how understandable the participants found the scientific content of the film and how they felt.

      Results: Both parts of the film were equally well received by the participants and they both felt equally involved in the action. Those who watched the science fiction film then knew more about astrophysics (for example, that there is a difference between black holes and wormholes), were more interested in this topic, and wanted to look for more information about it. The fact that the scientific facts were well integrated into the plot also played a role: those who thought so had an even greater interest in the topic afterwards and wanted to know more about it.

      Conclusions: The audience can learn new scientific facts from entertainment media such as films and develop a greater interest in science, even in relation to more abstract subjects such as astrophysics. The better science and storytelling are intertwined, the greater the impact on interest.

      Limitations: The test subjects were students, so possibly scientific topics were more open to the average population. The authors attribute the fact that only one film and one control film were tested to the fact that scientifically accurate narratives are still rare in entertainment media. In addition, no question was asked whether the participants already knew the film, which may have helped them to understand the scientific facts.