Gaps in public trust between scientists and climate scientists: a 68 country study

2025/04/29 by Omid Ghasemi, Viktoria Cologna, Niels G. Mede +15 · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Climate Change Communication and Perception

paper · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/add1f9

openalex publication_date 2025/04/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

Abstract This study compares public trust in climate scientists and scientists in general across 68 countries ( N = 69,534). On average, participants reported moderately high levels of trust in climate scientists, with trust levels being slightly lower than trust in scientists in general. Overall, this trust gap was larger among participants who identified as politically conservative or right-leaning, but there was considerable variation across countries.

Citations

• Trust and Risk Perception: A Critical Review of the Literature
• The Effect of Trust in Science and Media Use on Public Belief in Anthropogenic Climate Change: A Meta-analysis
• Explaining Polarized Trust in Scientists: A Political Stereotype-Approach
• Perceptions of science, science communication, and climate change attitudes in 68 countries – the TISP dataset
• Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries
• Political ideology and trust in scientists in the USA
• Trust in climate scientists is associated with political ideology: A 26-country analysis
• Networks of Opposition: A Structural Analysis of U.S. Climate Change Countermovement Coalitions 1989–2015
• Defeating the merchants of doubt

Discussions

• Trust in scientists fosters public support for #science-based solutions to societal problems, e.g., for #climate policies. In a survey (>69,000 responses, 68 countries) @omidghasemi.bsky.social‬ et al [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]