The confidence of Americans in scientists, institutions and other groups has come down, compared with just a year ago. The Trust in scientists and medical scientists, once buoyed by their central role in addressing the coronavirus outbreak, is now below pre-pandemic levels, according to PEW research Centre.
The survey found that only 29 per cent of US adults say they have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists to act in the best interests of the public. This is down from 40 per cent who said this in November 2020. Similarly, the share with a great deal of confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interests is down by 10 percentage points (from 39% to 29%), said the latest survey.
FALLEN
The present ratings of medical scientists and scientists have fallen below where they were in January 2019, before the emergence of the coronavirus. The survey found that scientists and medical scientists are not the only groups and institutions to see their confidence ratings decline in the last year. The share of Americans who say they have a great deal of confidence in the military to act in the public’s best interests has fallen 14 points, from 39 per cent in November 2020 to 25 per cent. The Americans confidence in K-12 public school principals and police officers have also decreased (by 7 and 6 points, respectively).
CONFIDENCE IN GROUPS
Among all the groups, a vast majority of Americans continue to have at least a fair amount of confidence in medical scientists (78%) and scientists (77%) to act in the public’s best interests. These ratings place them at the top of the list of nine groups and institutions included in the survey. A large majority of Americans (74%) also express at least a fair amount of confidence in the military to act in the public’s best interests. Roughly two-thirds say this about police officers (69%) and K-12 public school principals (64%), while 55% have at least a fair amount of confidence in religious leaders. The public continues to express lower levels of confidence in journalists, business leaders and elected officials. Fourwin-ten say they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in journalists and business leaders to act in the public’s best interests, six-in-ten now say they have not too much or no confidence at all in these groups. Ratings for elected officials are especially negative: 24% say they have a great deal or fair amount of confidence in elected officials, compared with 76% who say they have not too much or no confidence in them. The survey was fielded Nov. 30 through Dec. 12, 2021, among 14,497 U.S. adults, as the omicron variant of the coronavirus was first detected in the United States.
PARTISAN
The survey found that Democrats remain more likely than Republicans to express confidence in medical scientists and scientists to act in the public’s best interests. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, nine-in-ten express either a great deal (44%) or a fair amount (46%) of confidence in medical scientists. However, the confidence in medical scientists has fallen 10 points since November 2020. There has been a similar decline in the share of Democrats holding the strongest level of confidence in scientists since November 2020, Still, ratings for medical scientists, along with those for scientists, remain more positive than those for other groups in the eyes of Democrats and independents who lean to the Democratic Party. None of the other groups rated on the survey garner as much confidence; the closest contenders are public school principals and the military. About three-quarters (76%) of Democrats and Democratic leaners have at least a fair amount of confidence in public school principals; 68% say the same about the military. There has been a steady decline in confidence in medical scientists among Republicans and Republican leaners since April 2020. In the latest survey, just 15% have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists, down from 31% who said this in April 2020 and 26% who said this in November 2020. There has been a parallel increase in the share of Republicans holding negative views of medical scientists, with 34% now saying they have not too much or no confidence at all in medical scientists to act in the public’s best interests – nearly three times higher than in January 2019, before the coronavirus outbreak. Republicans’ confidence in other groups and institutions has also declined since the pandemic took hold. The share of Republicans with at least a fair amount of confidence in public school principals is down 27 points since April 2020. Views of elected officials, already at low levels, declined further; 15% of Republicans have at least a fair amount of confidence in elected officials to act in the public’s best interests, down from 37% in April 2020.
RACE AND ETHNICITY, EDUCATION
Confidence in medical scientists declined at least modestly among White and Black adults over the past year. It was mainly pronounced among White adults. Among White adults, the share with a great deal of confidence in medical scientists to act in the best interests of the public declined from 43% to 29% over the past year.
Among Black adults, 28% say they have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists to act in the public’s best interests, down slightly from November 2020 (33%).
The share of Hispanic adults with a strong level of trust in medical scientists is similar to the share who expressed the same level of trust in November 2020, although the current share is 16 points lower than it. was in April 2020 White Democrats (52%) are more likely than Hispanic (36%) and Black (30%) Democrats to say they have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists to act in the public’s best interests. However, large majorities of all three groups say they have at least a fair amount of confidence in medical scientists.
Americans with higher levels of education express more positive views of scientists and medical scientists than those with lower levels of education, as has also been the case in past Center surveys. Democrats and Democratic leaners with at least a college degree express a high level of confidence in medical scientists: 54% have a great deal of confidence and 95% have at least a fair amount of confidence in medical scientists to act in the public’s interests. By comparison, a smaller share of Democrats who have not graduated from college have confidence in medical scientists. Among Republicans and Republican leaners, college graduates are 9 points more likely than those with some college experience or less education to express a great deal of confidence in medical scientists (21% vs. 12%).
