2023-06-15 20:28:02
NEW YORK (AP) — Trust in the scientific community declined among U.S. adults in 2022, a major poll shows, a drop fueled by a partisan divide in views on science and medicine that emerged during the COVID pandemic. -19.
Overall, 39% of American adults said they had “a lot of trust” in the scientific community, up from 48% in 2018 and 2021. That’s according to the General Social Survey, a long-running poll conducted by NORC in the University of Chicago that has monitored the opinions of the American population on key issues since 1972.
An additional 48% of adults in the latest survey reported “just some” trust, while 13% reported “almost nothing,” according to an analysis of the survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The poll showed low levels of confidence among Republicans as partisan divides that emerged during the pandemic era lingered, said Jennifer Benz, the center’s deputy director.
“It doesn’t seem so drastic when you just look at the trends for the general public,” Benz said. “But when you dig into people’s political affiliations, there’s a really marked dip and polarization.”
Between the 2018 and 2021 polls, when the pandemic took hold, the confidence levels of the main parties went in opposite directions. Democrats reported a rising level of trust in science in 2021, perhaps as a “rally effect” around things like COVID-19 vaccines and prevention measures, Benz added. At the same time, there was a collapse in confidence among Republicans.
In the 2022 poll, Democrats’ confidence fell back to pre-pandemic levels, with 53% reporting great confidence compared to 55% in 2018. But Republican confidence continued its downward trend. low, falling from 45% to 22% in 2018.
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The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Education Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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