Exploratory analysis shows that public trust in impact science varies greatly by partisanship, indicating a need for improved science communication.
This study examines the political polarization of public trust in science across Europe, distinguishing impact science, which addresses negative consequences of industrial activity and policy, from production science, which supports industrial development. Left-leaning Europeans trust impact science, while right-leaning ones favor production science. Education and closeness to a particular political party amplify ideological differences in impact science trust, reflecting motivated reasoning and partisanship. Exploratory path analysis suggests partisanship exerts a stronger effect than reasoning. These findings imply that skepticism is not a matter of ignorance but of political commitment, highlighting the challenge for science communication in politically polarized contexts.
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Cordova et al. (2025) studied this question.
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