The credibility of psychological science and clinical practice is at a low point. Expertise of any type is systematically denigrated by some governments, those who profit from spurious therapies, and those cynical about science. Many, but not all, issues with credibility are due to the spread of misinformation. Misinformation has long been a key part of the marketing of wellness, questionable therapies, and other products designed to separate people from their money. Profit and power drive how information is presented.
The Misinformation Crisis
Although the word “crisis” is carelessly used as a label for every problem that gains attention, there is good cause to refer to the current deluge of misinformation as a crisis. The massive expansion and apparent inevitability of large language models (LLMs) as part of the artificial intelligence explosion allow for information to be spread at an exponentially faster pace than before the rise of LLMs. Now papers, essays, blog posts, and press releases can be generated at the press of a button. Although speed and convenience are impressive, LLMs’ lack of any consideration for accuracy, research support, or scientific consensus ensures that reasonable-sounding, but often inaccurate, information moves at lightning speed. All while your accurate, careful, and sober scientific papers are under peer review for 15 months before publication.
Moreover, some governments have switched from scientifically led policy-making to policies led by fear, grift, emotion, and concentration of power. When moving away from a democracy to an authoritarian approach, a first step is always to engage and amplify misinformation so that no one can know what are truths and what are lies. The result is cynicism and loss of credibility of experts. This movement dramatically affects the ability of professional psychologists to provide quality services.
Science Communicators
An antidote to this problem is the book, The Certainty Illusion (Caulfield, 2025). The book begins with an excellent acknowledgement, “To science communicators everywhere. Thank you. It’s been rough.” The book proceeds to discuss three major drivers of beliefs and behaviors: science, virtue, and opinion. Then the author discusses how these three drivers have been hijacked for money, power, and status. Caulfield is such an effortless and witty communicator that this book is as easy and entertaining to read as it is horrifying.
The section about science is most relevant to the credibility crisis in psychology. Although much of the reporting is about how marketers and politicians use science-y language to sell their products and ideas, he does not spare the scientists themselves. He clearly lays out issues in the replication crisis, junk journals, AI-generated manuscripts, perverse incentives for scholars, peer-review problems, and careless or dishonest scholars who open the doors for nefarious actors to misuse science. He also notes the need for scholars to take their work beyond scholarly journals and reports to the public. Communicating clearly and openly to taxpayers who fund much research is responsible and places quality ideas in the public spaces. Currently, the public information spaces are overwhelmed with half-truths and misinformation from those with a power or profit motive rather than a truth motive.
The other two sections on the role of virtue in decision-making and how opinions are shaped by information are equally as powerful. Although relevant to professional psychologists wishing to improve credibility, these two sections describe common marketing practices that have existed for quite some time.
This book is brilliant. The problem is that fighting the tsunami of misinformation seems like a futile exercise. Professors conducting research do not have the resources of a political party, multinational corporation, media conglomerate, or government to dominate information spaces. To be fair, Caulfield has hosted a television show, is continuously on podcasts and media, and writes accessible information. He is more than doing his share of the work. Yet, the solutions offered in this book are small-scale and more for consumers of information than producers. We can join Caulfield with a minor shift in our emphasis.
Scholars and researchers are also science communicators. This is now an essential role for scholars. Press releases, social media involvement, podcasts, and media appearances are now basics of being an academic. Yes, I know this is difficult. But science communication is another of the many skills we need to engage in that we were not well-trained for. For clinicians, ensure that your interventions are not only evidence-informed but also viewed as credible by the client base. We need to acknowledge that some of our practices have limited research support and apply these ideas with humility, transparency, and caution. As professionals, our credibility is our primary strength. The Certainty Illusion provides useful information to identify, restore, and build professional credibility.