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Part of
A Pragmatic Agenda for Healthcare: Fostering inclusion and active participation through shared understanding
Edited by Sarah Bigi and Maria Grazia Rossi
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 338] 2023
► pp. 75–103

Chapter 3
Public disagreements among health experts and their polarizing effects during a pandemic health crisis

A speech-act theoretical perspective

| University of Trieste

This paper focuses on the communication styles used by health experts when addressing the public about COVID-19, and the negative effects these styles had on the non-expert public’s ability to understand these issues and make well-informed decisions. Specifically, it examines the use of assertive styles within an Austin-inspired speech-act theoretical framework. By analyzing Twitter threads discussing COVID-19 following the first lockdown in Italy, I explore how these communication styles contribute to the polarization of non-experts, aligning them with different experts. In conclusion, I emphasize the importance for health experts to carefully select appropriate communication styles when engaging with the non-expert public to avoid undermining trust in scientific expertise, as observed during the COVID-19 crisis.

Keywords: public health communication, health experts, communication style, assertion, speech act theory, polarization
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.From medical consultations to public discourse on health
  • 3.Public disagreements among experts during a health emergency
  • 4.Speech acts and communication styles
  • 5.Which experts to trust?
  • 6.When experts disagree in public: A representative case study
    • 6.1“In reality, from the clinical point of view, the virus no longer exists”
    • 6.2Beyond expertise: Siding with an expert
    • 6.3Beyond expertise: Why trust an expert?
    • 6.4Beyond expertise: Why discredit an expert?
  • 7.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 17 November 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.338.03lab
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