Science’s big problem is a loss of influence, not a loss of trust
Evidence shows that science and scientists remain highly trusted. But genuine scientific voices are not shouting loud enough over the noise to hold sway.
Science has a trust problem — at least, that is the common perception. If only, the argument goes, we could get people to ‘trust’ or ‘follow’ the science, we, as a society, would be doing more about climate change, childhood vaccination rates would be increasing rather than decreasing and fewer people would have died during the COVID-19 pandemic. Characterizing the problem as ‘science denialism’, however, is misleading and wrongly suggests that the solution is to build greater trust between scientists and the public.
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Indeed, the research produced by our organizations — the Edelman Trust Institute think tank and the Global Listening Project non-profit organization — suggests that trust in science and scientists remains high globally. But scientists and scientific information exist in an increasingly complex ecosystem in which people’s perception of what counts as reliable evidence or proof is influenced by myriad other people and factors, including politics, religion, culture and personal belief. In the face of this complexity, the public are turning to friends, family, journalists and others to help them filter and interpret the vast amounts of information available.
Our work suggests that the crux of science’s current challenge is not lost trust, but rather misplaced trust in untrustworthy sources. High trust levels can be dangerous when they are invested in institutions and individuals that are misinformed or not well-intentioned. In this regard, it is especially problematic when societal institutions become politicized and advocate policies and behaviours that are at odds with scientific consensus.
Misplaced trust can drive behaviours that put people’s lives at risk. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, cases and deaths were higher in nations, such as the United States and Brazil, that had political leaders who dismissed the severity or even existence of the pandemic, undermined the need for masks and questioned the safety of the vaccines.
In what follows, we share data on trust in science and strategies to help scientists compete with non-credentialed sources for influence.
