Most of us trust scientists, shows a survey of nearly 72,000 people worldwide

Public trust in scientists is vital. It can help us with personal decisions on matters like health and provide evidence-based policymaking to assist governments with crises such as the COVID pandemic or climate change.

In a survey of 71,922 people across 68 countries, our global team of 241 researchers has found most people have a relatively high trust in scientists.

Notably, people want scientists to take an active role in society and policymaking. Our results are published today in Nature Human Behaviour.

So what does this mean for us as a society, and for scientists and policymakers seeking to maintain and build trust? Here are the lessons we’ve learned.

Rumors of a ‘crisis’

According to reports and polls, most people trust science, and scientists are among the most trustworthy people in society. Yet there is an oft-repeated claim of a “crisis of trust” in science and scientists.

For instance, some research suggests media reporting about polls can act as a self-fulfilling prophecy or feedback loop—it can undermine scientific credibility by portraying a trust crisis.

Other research suggests media policy narratives influence public opinion through framing. For example, exposure to conservative media reporting on scientific controversies increases distrust in scientists, leading to greater climate change denial.

Our research goes beyond the Western world and covers many understudied countries in the Global South. We tested whether there is in fact low trust in scientists, and whether levels of trust vary appreciably across countries.

A truly global survey

We conducted a crowd-sourced Many Labs project involving the same translated survey across 68 countries on all inhabited continents.

Data were collected between November 2022 and August 2023. Our samples were weighted according to national distributions of age, gender, education and country sample size. You can interact with global and country level data using this data dashboard.

Trustworthiness of scientists was measured using four established dimensions: perceived competence, benevolence, integrity and openness.

How much do people around the world trust scientists?

Worldwide, we find most people have relatively high trust in scientists (mean trust level = 3.62, on a scale from 1 = very low trust to 5 = very high trust).

Globally, people perceive scientists to have high competence, moderate integrity and benevolent intentions, while also being slightly less open to feedback. A majority of respondents also perceive scientists to be qualified (78%), honest (57%) and concerned about people’s well-being (56%).

No country showed low trust in scientists.

Australia ranked equal fifth-highest in trust in scientists, scoring significantly above the global average, and ranking only behind Egypt, India, Nigeria and Kenya.

Are there differences in trust based on who you are?

Globally, our findings indicate trust is slightly higher for women, older people, residents of urban (versus rural) regions, and people with high incomes, religiosity, formal education and liberal and left-leaning political views.

In most countries, political orientation and trust in scientists were unrelated. However, we found that in Western countries people with conservative (right-leaning) political views have less trust in scientists than those with liberal (left-leaning) views. This is consistent with research from North America.

In Australia, having a conservative versus liberal political orientation didn’t seem to matter when it came to trust in science, unlike in North America and many other European countries. This could mean political polarization around science is not as much of an issue as it is for specific scientific issues, like climate change.

Globally, what did seem to make a difference was how much a person endorses something called social dominance orientation—a preference for inequality between social groups. People high in this orientation were significantly less trusting of scientists. This is also consistent with previous research.

How do people think scientists should behave?

A majority of survey participants are in favor of science playing an active role in society and policymaking.

Globally, 83% of respondents believe scientists should communicate about science with the general public. This is particularly the case in African countries.

Overall, around half (49%) believe scientists should actively advocate for specific policies, and that scientists should be more involved in the policymaking process (52%).

In Australia, around two-thirds believe scientists should actively advocate for specific policies (66%), and a majority believe scientists should be involved in the policymaking process (62%).

What do people think scientists should prioritize?

Many people worldwide feel the priorities of science don’t always align well with their own priorities.

This is important because the discrepancy between perceived and desired research priorities is associated with trust in scientists. The less people trust scientists, the more likely they think scientists’ efforts don’t meet their personal expectations on what they should prioritize in their work.

In general, respondents assign the highest priority to research dedicated to improving public health, followed by solving energy problems and reducing poverty.

Research on developing defense and military technology was assigned the lowest priority. Globally, respondents believe science prioritizes this more than it should.

There are, however, large differences between global regions. People in African and Asian countries believe there should be a higher priority on developing defense and military technologies.

There’s no crisis—but these are valuable insights

Our findings echo Western polls that scientists are among the most trusted people in society. Worldwide, our results show there’s a high level of trust in scientists and a belief they should be involved in society and policymaking.

All this doesn’t support the narrative that there’s a crisis of trust in science.

Importantly, our findings do also highlight some areas for concern. Globally, less than half of respondents (42%) believe that scientists pay attention to others’ views. While scientists are viewed as highly competent, with moderate integrity and benevolent intentions, there is a perception they are less open to feedback.
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There is also a gap between the perceived and desired priorities for research, which is associated with trust.

We recommend scientists take these results seriously. They should find ways to be more receptive to feedback and open to dialogue with the public. In Western countries, scientists should consider new ways to reach conservative groups.

In the long term, scientists should also consider their role in setting priorities aligned with public values.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.