When the “Best Available Evidence” Doesn’t Win: How Doubts About Science and Scientists Threaten the Future of Evidence-Based Management

Abstract

The well documented academic-practice gap has frequently been viewed as a problem to be solved via evidence-based management. Evidence-based management focuses heavily on aggregating and evaluating research evidence to address practical questions via meta-analysis and other forms of systematic review, as well as educating managers and management students on how to differentiate strong from weak research methods. The assumption has been that if researchers produce stronger research findings and disseminate them in manager- and student-accessible venues, the results will be believed and implemented if appropriate to the context. However, these strategies alone are woefully insufficient, as a growing body of evidence suggests that even when individuals are aware of research findings supported by a vast majority of studies, they often choose not to believe them. Sources of this disbelief include growing public distrust of academics, scientific research, and professional expertise in general, as well as negative emotional reactions to specific research findings that threaten people’s cherished beliefs, self-image, self-interest, or social identity. This editorial takes an interdisciplinary approach to explain why people might not believe management research findings and offers strategies for increasing public trust of academics and reducing resistance to self-threatening research findings.