Medically reviewed by Medicine.com.
By Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, March 12, 2024 — The Trump administration’s assaults on scientists did not shake Individuals’ confidence in science, a brand new evaluation reveals.
“The proportion of Individuals with a low degree of belief in scientific experience rose from 3% in 2016 to 13% in 2020,” mentioned lead creator Jon Miller, a analysis scientist emeritus on the Heart for Political Research on the College of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “However that enhance was greater than matched by an increase within the proportion of Individuals with a excessive degree of belief in scientific experience, from 23% to 58%.”
Former President Donald Trump’s assaults on medical specialists — particularly Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the Nationwide Institute of Allergy and Infectious Ailments — fueled polarization throughout the pandemic however made the query of scientific experience extra vital to many Individuals, the researchers famous.
Whereas critics condemned the administration’s views and actions on such matters as local weather change, environmental safety and the COVID pandemic, even conservative Republicans’ belief in science rose greater than mistrust between 2016 and 2020, researchers discovered.
Their examine — printed just lately within the journal Science and Public Coverage — evaluated modifications between 2016 and 2020 alongside a sequence of nationwide public opinion surveys that started in 1957.
The surveys present that Individuals have been extremely appreciative of the advantages of science and know-how and have had little worry in regards to the risks.
In 2016, curiosity in science and know-how, college-level examine of those topics and training degree had been the strongest predictors of appreciation for the advantages of science and know-how. Fundamentalist non secular beliefs had been the strongest predictor of apprehension in regards to the risks.
The developments had been comparable in 2020.
However their findings steered {that a} fundamental degree of scientific understanding enabled Individuals who had been bored with science and tech to return in control on present occasions, particularly the pandemic, researchers mentioned.
“The Trump administration’s contempt for scientific and technological experience was rightly a trigger for concern, however our examine reveals that the American public was by and enormous unaffected,” Miller mentioned in a college information launch. “However will probably be essential to proceed to enhance the general public’s understanding of science and know-how to make sure that it’s outfitted to climate any additional storms.”
Sources
College of Michigan, information launch, March 11, 2024
Disclaimer: Statistical information in medical articles present normal developments and don’t pertain to people. Particular person elements can range significantly. At all times search customized medical recommendation for particular person healthcare selections.
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Posted March 2024
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