ABSTRACT Epistemic beliefs – one’s beliefs about the nature of knowledge – have been recognized as important predictors of learning outcomes. This study focuses on the role of epistemic beliefs in predicting citizen engagement with science and technology. In accordance with theories of learning and domain knowledge acquisition, the findings highlight the potential importance of epistemic beliefs in motivating individuals to be interested in and to consume informative media content related to science and technology. The analyses confirm that certain cognitive dispositions and epistemic beliefs substantially increase the ability to explain variation in citizens’ interest in science and technology and consumption of related news content. If the relationships we observe represent causal effects, enhancing epistemic motivations might be an effective strategy in achieving science communication’s goal of cultivating interest and promoting citizen engagement with science and technology.

中文翻译：

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认知信念在预测公民兴趣和参与科学技术中的作用

摘要认识论信念，即关于知识本质的信念，被认为是学习成果的重要预测指标。这项研究的重点是认知信念在预测公民对科学技术的参与中的作用。根据学习和领域知识获取的理论，这些发现强调了认知信念在激发个人对与科学技术有关的信息性内容感兴趣和消费方面的潜在重要性。分析证实，某些认知倾向和认知信念大大增强了解释公民对科学技术的兴趣和相关新闻内容的消费变化的能力。如果我们观察到的关系代表因果关系，