Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries
2025/01/20 by Viktoria Cologna, Niels G. Mede, Sebastian Berger +97 · 12 voices · 244 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Affect (linguistics) #Biology and political orientation #Climate Change Communication and Perception #Law #Misinformation and Its Impacts #Political science #Politics #Psychology #Public opinion #Public relations #Public trust #Risk Perception and Management
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41562-024-02090-5
published in Nature Human Behaviour 9(4), 713-730 (Nature Portfolio)
openalex publication_date 2025/01/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract
Science is crucial for evidence-based decision-making. Public trust in scientists can help decision makers act on the basis of the best available evidence, especially during crises. However, in recent years the epistemic authority of science has been challenged, causing concerns about low public trust in scientists. We interrogated these concerns with a preregistered 68-country survey of 71,922 respondents and found that in most countries, most people trust scientists and agree that scientists should engage more in society and policymaking. We found variations between and within countries, which we explain with individual- and country-level variables, including political orientation. While there is no widespread lack of trust in scientists, we cannot discount the concern that lack of trust in scientists by even a small minority may affect considerations of scientific evidence in policymaking. These findings have implications for scientists and policymakers seeking to maintain and increase trust in scientists.
Citations
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Discussions
- La science inspire-t-elle encore confiance ? Dans une enquête mondiale publiée récemment dans Nature Human Behaviour, la confiance envers les scientifiques reste élevée (moyenne de 3,62/5). 78 % les [bsky, 27 points, 2 comments]
- Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries @colognaviktoria.bsky.social + doi.org/10.1038/s415... Overall, trust in scientists is moderately high & people think scientists shou [bsky, 6 points, 2 comments]
- 📢 "Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries" - new article in #Nature Human Behaviour. Authors among others: Helen Fischer & Markus Huff (IWM). Link to the article: ➡️ doi.or [bsky, 5 points, 0 comments]
- 🧐La orientación política conservadora reduce la confianza en científicos. Aunque las variaciones dependen del país, las personas de derecha suelen ser más escépticas hacia la ciencia, especialmente e [bsky, 3 points, 0 comments]
- 📄 The study, led by Dr. Cologna and Dr. Mede has been published in Nature Human Behaviour > doi.org/10.1038/s415... Among the 241 researchers involved, who interrogated more 71,000 respondents from [bsky, 1 points, 1 comments]
- The opening keynote at #STMInnovation, Rachel Gubermann-Hill of U Bristol and UKCORI says there's no real evidence that the public doesn't trust scientists Here's the key article she recomended: doi.o [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]
- i trust 1% of scientists lol...but in all seriousness is this the paper? can't access the link doi.org/10.1038/s415... [bsky, 1 points, 2 comments]
- While there is no widespread lack of trust in scientists, we cannot discount the concern that lack of trust in scientists by even a small minority may affect considerations of scientific evidence in p [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]
- While “most people #trust science, & scientists are among the most trusted actors in society,” #trust in science is under threat today. In a global survey, Cologna et al. found a majority “want scient [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
- This study again seems pertinent in regard to this important topic and, it seems to me, is instructive to scientists: Cologna, Viktoria, et al. Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
- doi.org/10.1038/s41... [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
- For me the most striking feature of Ukrainians is how our trust in science is often linked to trust in the West. While in many countries science is primarily associated with local elites in 🇺🇦 peopl [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
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