Conflict With Context: The Impact of Explanations of Scientific Uncertainty and Informant Differences on Responses to Conflicting Health Advice

This experiment examined whether conflict explanations (informant-based, uncertainty-based, vs. none) and conflict framing (alternative vs. opposing) mitigate negative responses to conflicting health advice. Both explanations reduced perceived conflict, with informant-based explanations effective only among individuals with lower perceived knowledge. No significant effect of conflict framing was observed. Perceived conflict was subsequently associated with greater confusion, uncertainty, anger, and anxiety. Uncertainty, in turn, was more strongly associated with topic-specific attitude ambivalence, whereas anger was more strongly associated with generalized health confusion and backlash. Mediation analysis further supported several indirect effects of conflict explanations on downstream outcomes through these pathways.