An anchor in troubled times: Trust in science before and within the COVID-19 pandemic
Researchers, policy makers and science communicators have become increasingly been interested in factors that affect public’s trust in science. Recently, one such potentially important driving factor has emerged, the COVID-19 pandemic. Have trust in science and other science-related beliefs changed...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8827432/?tool=EBI |
| _version_ | 1818683364726538240 |
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| author | Rainer Bromme Niels G. Mede Eva Thomm Bastian Kremer Ricarda Ziegler |
| author_facet | Rainer Bromme Niels G. Mede Eva Thomm Bastian Kremer Ricarda Ziegler |
| author_sort | Rainer Bromme |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Researchers, policy makers and science communicators have become increasingly been interested in factors that affect public’s trust in science. Recently, one such potentially important driving factor has emerged, the COVID-19 pandemic. Have trust in science and other science-related beliefs changed in Germany from before to during the pandemic? To investigate this, we re-analyzed data from a set of representative surveys conducted in April, May, and November 2020, which were obtained as part of the German survey Science Barometer, and compared it to data from the last annual Science Barometer survey that took place before the pandemic, (in September 2019). Results indicate that German’s trust in science increased substantially after the pandemic began and slightly declined in the months thereafter, still being higher in November 2020 than in September 2019. Moreover, trust was closely related to expectations about how politics should handle the pandemic. We also find that increases of trust were most pronounced among the higher-educated. But as the pandemic unfolded, decreases of trust were more likely among supporters of the populist right-wing party AfD. We discuss the sustainability of these dynamics as well as implications for science communication. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T10:33:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5fa788f92a424643818506733f0cf997 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T10:33:34Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-5fa788f92a424643818506733f0cf9972022-12-21T21:52:27ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01172An anchor in troubled times: Trust in science before and within the COVID-19 pandemicRainer BrommeNiels G. MedeEva ThommBastian KremerRicarda ZieglerResearchers, policy makers and science communicators have become increasingly been interested in factors that affect public’s trust in science. Recently, one such potentially important driving factor has emerged, the COVID-19 pandemic. Have trust in science and other science-related beliefs changed in Germany from before to during the pandemic? To investigate this, we re-analyzed data from a set of representative surveys conducted in April, May, and November 2020, which were obtained as part of the German survey Science Barometer, and compared it to data from the last annual Science Barometer survey that took place before the pandemic, (in September 2019). Results indicate that German’s trust in science increased substantially after the pandemic began and slightly declined in the months thereafter, still being higher in November 2020 than in September 2019. Moreover, trust was closely related to expectations about how politics should handle the pandemic. We also find that increases of trust were most pronounced among the higher-educated. But as the pandemic unfolded, decreases of trust were more likely among supporters of the populist right-wing party AfD. We discuss the sustainability of these dynamics as well as implications for science communication.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8827432/?tool=EBI |
| spellingShingle | Rainer Bromme Niels G. Mede Eva Thomm Bastian Kremer Ricarda Ziegler An anchor in troubled times: Trust in science before and within the COVID-19 pandemic PLoS ONE |
| title | An anchor in troubled times: Trust in science before and within the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | An anchor in troubled times: Trust in science before and within the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | An anchor in troubled times: Trust in science before and within the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | An anchor in troubled times: Trust in science before and within the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | An anchor in troubled times: Trust in science before and within the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | anchor in troubled times trust in science before and within the covid 19 pandemic |
| url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8827432/?tool=EBI |
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