Open AccessThe belief that politics drive scientific research & its impact on COVID-19 risk assessment
Author(s) -
Danielle McLaughlin,
Jack Mewhirter,
Rebecca Sanders
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0249937
Subject(s) - distrust , covid-19 , politics , risk assessment , public health , pandemic , environmental health , psychology , political science , public relations , social psychology , medicine , law , virology , computer science , computer security , disease , pathology , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , nursing
We use survey data collected from 12,037 US respondents to examine the extent to which the American public believes that political motives drive the manner in which scientific research is conducted and assess the impact that such beliefs have on COVID-19 risk assessments. We find that this is a commonly held belief and that it is negatively associated with risk assessments. Public distrust in scientists could complicate efforts to combat COVID-19, given that risk assessments are strongly associated with one’s propensity to adopt preventative health measures.