Report: America’s Trust in Scientists Drops in Wake of COVID-19 Pandemic – By Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder (US News) / Nov 14, 2023
Both parties have reported some level of declining trust in scientists, though the decrease is more prominent among Republicans.
Public trust in scientists fell again in 2023 even as COVID-19 has faded into the background for many Americans, according to a new report.
Survey results from Pew Research Center published on Tuesday found that confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interest fell from 77% in 2022 to 73% as of last month. It’s a far drop from 87% in April 2020, which quickly declined to 84% by November 2020 as the pandemic worsened.
The share of Americans who report having a “great deal” of confidence in scientists also continues to decline, dropping from 39% in April 2020 to 23% in October.
Those with little or little to no confidence in scientists have, perhaps not surprisingly, increased since the pandemic. The report found that 27% of U.S. adults fall into the category, which is up from 12% in April 2020.
