Vertrauen in die Wissenschaft in Zeiten der Polykrise

Speakers:

• Guido Mehlkop, Institute for Planetary Health Behaviour, University of Erfurt
• Holger Futterleib, Institute for Planetary Health Behaviour, University of Erfurt
• Babette Brinkmann, Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, Cologne University of Applied Sciences
• Tilmann Betsch, Institute for Planetary Health Behaviour, University of Erfurt

About the event:

Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic or climate change highlight just how high expectations of science are. At the same time, mistrust of scientific findings is growing amongst a section of the population. But who trusts science – and why?

To answer these questions, we conducted a representative survey of 3,005 people in Germany to investigate how trust in science varies. Our analyses show that the population can be divided into four clearly distinguishable groups, which differ significantly not only in terms of trust but also in their attitudes, understanding of science and behaviour.

Of particular interest is a group comprising around a quarter of the population who tend to be sceptical of scientific findings and are often unwilling to change their own behaviour even when scientific evidence suggests they should. Our findings suggest that scientific facts alone often fail to reach these people. Rather, science must connect more closely with people’s everyday lives and make its social relevance clear.

With the findings of our study, we therefore aim not only to advance research, but above all to engage in dialogue with members of the public: What builds trust in science? What expectations are placed on research? And how can science better explain, listen and strengthen dialogue with society?