Pew: Partisan gap widening

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Pew Research Center·pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-trust-in-sci...

Credibility Rating

4/5

High(4)

High quality. Established institution or organization with editorial oversight and accountability.

Rating inherited from publication venue: Pew Research Center

Relevant background for AI governance discussions, as declining trust in scientific institutions complicates public acceptance of AI safety research findings and expert-driven regulatory proposals.

Metadata

Importance: 35/100organizational reportdataset

Summary

A Pew Research Center survey documenting declining public trust in scientists, medical professionals, and other institutions in the United States, with a pronounced and widening partisan gap between Republicans and Democrats. The report highlights how trust erosion varies significantly by political affiliation, education, and demographic group, with implications for science-based policymaking and public health.

Key Points

•Trust in scientists dropped notably between 2020 and 2021, reversing gains seen at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
•A large and growing partisan gap exists: Democrats retain higher trust in scientists while Republican trust has declined sharply.
•Trust in medical scientists, the military, and public school principals all showed declines across the measured period.
•The erosion of institutional trust has downstream effects on public receptivity to evidence-based guidance and AI/tech governance.
•Demographic factors like education and party identity are strong predictors of differential trust levels across institutions.

Cited by 1 page

Page	Type	Quality
AI-Driven Trust Decline	Risk	55.0

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- Report

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February 15, 2022

# Americans’ Trust in Scientists, Other Groups Declines

## Republicans’ confidence in medical scientists down sharply since early in the coronavirus outbreak

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By [Brian Kennedy](https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/brian-kennedy/), [Alec Tyson](https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/alec-tyson/) and [Cary Funk](https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/cary-funk/)

Table of Contents

1. [Americans’ Trust in Scientists, Other Groups Declines](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-trust-in-scientists-other-groups-declines/)   - [Partisan differences over trust in medical scientists, scientists continue to widen since the coronavirus outbreak](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-trust-in-scientists-other-groups-declines/#partisan-differences-over-trust-in-medical-scientists-scientists-continue-to-widen-since-the-coronavirus-outbreak)
2. [Acknowledgments](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/trust-in-scientists-declines-acknowledgments/)
3. [Methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/trust-in-scientists-declines-methodology/)
4. [Appendix](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/trust-in-scientists-declines-appendix/)

How we did this

Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand how much confidence Americans have in groups and institutions in society, including scientists and medical scientists. We surveyed 14,497 U.S. adults from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, 2021.

The survey was conducted on Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP) and included an oversample of Black and Hispanic adults from the Ipsos KnowledgePanel. A total of 3,042 Black adults (single-race, not Hispanic) and 3,716 Hispanic adults were sampled.

Respondents on both panels are recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. [Read more about the ATP’s methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/our-methods/u-s-surveys/the-american-trends-panel/).

Here are the [questions used for this report](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/02/PS_2022.02.15_trust-

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