Trust in science and scientists: Effects of social attitudes and motivations on views regarding climate change, vaccines and gene drive technology

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Journal of Trust Research Pub Date : 2022-07-03 DOI:10.1080/21515581.2022.2155658

Henry G. W. Dixson, A. Komugabe-Dixson, Fabien Medvecky, Jovana Balanovic, Helene Thygesen, E. MacDonald

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Trust in science and scientists (TSS) is an increasingly important topic with respect to how science is applied within society. However, its role regarding specific issues may vary depending upon other psychosocial factors. In this study, we investigated how trust interacts with social attitudes and motivations to shape views on scientific issues in New Zealand (N = 8,199; 74.7% New Zealand European, 55.1% female). The study went beyond TSS by including broader institutional trust alongside measures relating to support for inequality, status quo preservation and fear of the unknown. We focused on their effects on three issues: vaccines, climate change and genetic technology (gene drive). Although TSS was strongly associated with lower vaccine skepticism (B = -0.497, p < 0.01), and moderate support for gene drive (B = 0.231, p < 0.01), it had no meaningful effect on climate skepticism. Furthermore, trust differentially mediated the relationship between social motivations and responses to all three issues. Trust in science and scientists is therefore unlikely to represent a one-size-fits-all variable. We conclude that future research should consider what effects trust in institutions and TSS have with social attitudes and motivations over a range of technologies across the sciences.

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对科学和科学家的信任:社会态度和动机对气候变化、疫苗和基因驱动技术观点的影响

关于科学在社会中的应用，对科学和科学家的信任（TSS）是一个越来越重要的话题。然而，它在具体问题上的作用可能因其他社会心理因素而异。在这项研究中，我们调查了信任如何与新西兰的社会态度和动机相互作用，以形成对科学问题的看法（N=8199；74.7%的新西兰欧洲人，55.1%的女性）。这项研究超越了TSS，包括了更广泛的机构信任，以及与支持不平等、维持现状和对未知的恐惧有关的措施。我们重点讨论了它们对三个问题的影响：疫苗、气候变化和遗传技术（基因驱动）。尽管TSS与较低的疫苗怀疑论（B=-0.497，p<0.01）和对基因驱动的适度支持（B=0.231，p<0.01）密切相关，但它对气候怀疑论没有显著影响。此外，信任对社会动机和对这三个问题的反应之间的关系起着不同的中介作用。因此，对科学和科学家的信任不太可能代表一个一刀切的变量。我们的结论是，未来的研究应该考虑对机构和TSS的信任对整个科学领域的一系列技术的社会态度和动机有什么影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Trust Research Multiple-

CiteScore

2.60

自引率

42.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： As an inter-disciplinary and cross-cultural journal dedicated to advancing a cross-level, context-rich, process-oriented, and practice-relevant journal, JTR provides a focal point for an open dialogue and debate between diverse researchers, thus enhancing the understanding of trust in general and trust-related management in particular, especially in its organizational and social context in the broadest sense. Through both theoretical development and empirical investigation, JTR seeks to open the "black-box" of trust in various contexts.

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