#science

"Have people stopped trusting science? The data tell a surprising story

Some say there’s a global crisis of trust — but research reveals where the real problems lie.

In the United States, President Donald Trump and his administration are using the idea that science is not trustworthy as one reason to cut research budgets, reject evidence-based medical advice and exert unprecedented political control over research. 'Over the last 5 years, confidence that scientists act in the best interests of the public has fallen significantly,' said Trump in an executive order last year.

Even the Vatican is voicing concern. This September, a meeting at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences will examine how 'the crisis of trust in science has become a pressing issue'.

But is trust in science really that weak? Researchers studying this have reached some surprising conclusions. From a global perspective, public trust in science and scientists is high, they say. One of the largest studies3, which surveyed nearly 72,000 people across 68 countries in 2022–23, reported a 'moderately high' average trust score of 3.6 out of 5. 'The idea that there’s a generalized, pervasive lack of trust in science and experts is just completely unfounded in my mind,' says David Bersoff, head of research at the Edelman Trust Institute, a think tank in New York City.

But trust has dropped in certain groups, notably among Republican-leaning people in the United States. And research in the United Kingdom shows that the proportion of people who have 'a lot' of trust in science tends to be lower among politically right-leaning groups than those on the left. 'Trust in science is politicized and becoming more so,' says sociologist Gordon Gauchat at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. In many countries, people are also increasingly questioning definitive evidence on divisive issues such as vaccines, partly because scientific information is being drowned out online."

nature.com/articles/d41586-026…