Distrust in Science: Shaping Narratives and News Consumption

• In Event: Science, Trust, and Public Opinion

Abstract

Studying individuals’ scepticism toward science is central to understanding the appeal of populist narratives and the spread of misinformation. This project investigates factors shaping trust in science and their consequences on people’s behaviour. First, we explore whether procedural beliefs about the functioning of science are an important factor influencing individual trust. Then, we investigate how the variation in trust in science, induced by exploiting these beliefs, influences individuals’ choice of explanations to rationalize phenomena (narratives), and how they seek information. This study will employ three large-scale online surveys of a representative sample of the U.S. population. We conjecture that people with lower trust in science will lessen their likelihood of choosing complex narratives and will increase their likelihood of consuming less factual news.

Author

• Eleonora Alabrese, University of Bath