Spring 2025 Colloquium Series

Trust in scientists has been declining among U.S. conservatives while belief in science itself remains high among nearly everyone. This indicates a political differentiation of scientific authority where political ideologues are increasingly getting their scientific information from different sources, including those challenging mainstream scientific authority. In this talk, I share some previous and recent research that uses the General Social Survey to show 1) the political differentiation of scientific authority itself and 2) evidence that the internet as a medium has changed scientific self-perceptions among the public. Specifically, accessing scientific information through the internet has had the general effect of scientifically humbling liberals while emboldening conservatives. Finally, building on these findings, I will share nascent work examining the performance of scientific authority in new media.