Not Surprising: Americans ‘Trust the Science’ Less Than They Did Before COVID-19
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly three-quarters (73%) of Americans said that science has a “mostly positive” effect on society, while just three percent said it has a “mostly negative” effect — Today, that number has dropped substantially.
The poll from Pew Research compares data from previous years, which shows a steady decline in Americans’ view of science as an industry whole. In October 2023, just 53% of respondents said that science has a “mostly positive” effect on society, while 34% said it has an “equally positive and negative” effect, and 8% answered “mostly negative.”
Pew Research reports, “trust in scientists is 14 points lower than it was at the early stages of the pandemic … The share expressing the strongest level of trust in scientists – saying they have a great deal of confidence in them – has fallen from 39% in 2020 to 23% today.”
Now, 27% of Americans polled said they do not have confidence that scientists act in the public’s best interests, which is an increase of 12% from April 2020.
The number of conservatives who place little or no confidence in scientists’ intentions has risen to a staggering 38% compared to just 14% in 2020. Likewise, less than half of conservatives believe that science has an overall positive effect on society. Liberals on the other hand reported increasing levels of confidence in scientists throughout the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 70% of liberal respondents said that science has a mostly positive effect on society at large.
The results aren’t particularly surprising, given the political polarization that occurred as a result of controversial federal and state pandemic policies.
