Anti-science Views Regarding COVID-19 and Climate Change Are Associated With Trumpism

Throughout the world, people are becoming less and less trusting of science. This is especially true in the US, where partisanship, politicization, and conspiracy theories have taken over how the public views some scientific subjects, most notably COVID-19 and climate change. Support for former President Donald Trump is a significant factor that can predict whether someone will disagree with the scientific consensus on these issues, according to a recent study.

Put another way, embracing "Trumpism" and populist Conservative ideology raises the likelihood that someone won't believe the generally acknowledged evidence around COVID-19 and climate change.

Though to a lesser degree, Trumpism was also linked to those holding a wide range of extreme anti-scientific beliefs. These two topics constituted the most notable sources of contention.

"Approval of Trump is correlated with other conspiracy theories or anti-science viewpoints. The report states that "Trumpists indicate higher agreement with vaccinations implanting tracking microchips, that COVID-19 dangers have been exaggerated by scientists, and with conspiracies involving the flat Earth and moon landing."

It continues, "At the same time, they express lower agreement with scientific conclusions that humans evolved from earlier forms of life, that the Earth is billions of years old, that human activity is changing the climate, or that vaccines are largely beneficial."

Other fascinating findings from the recent study include:

1. Although women are more inclined than men to reject the COVID-19 vaccine, both sexes were equally likely to deny the existence of climate change.

2. Rejecting science is less likely among those with greater education levels.

3. Low-income households are more likely to reject vaccines, even though poverty has little bearing on one's beliefs on climate change.

4. As people age, the likelihood of rejecting vaccinations falls, but the likelihood of denying climate change rises.

5. The Earth is flat, according to about 10% of those polled overall, while the remaining 9% were not convinced.

Professor Lawrence Hamilton, a sociologist at the University of New Hampshire, conducted the new study. His research focuses on understanding public attitudes toward the environment, energy sources, and climate change using statistical analysis.

He used data from an online poll known as POLES 2021, which 1,134 US individuals completed in the summer and early autumn of 2021, to arrive at these conclusions. The study featured a range of questions regarding the respondents' backgrounds and social identities, as well as their opinions on COVID-19 and global climate change.

According to the study, political identification as conservative has historically been linked to a decreased level of concern for environmental issues and a rejection of drastic state interventions like vaccination laws and lockdowns. But populist parties, which have capitalized on a growing mistrust of "the establishment" (whatever that may mean) have given these themes a boost over the past ten years.

"In the case of COVID-19 and climate change, messaging from political and economic elites serving interests like fossil fuel use or Trump's reelection reinforced preexisting biases against scientists," the study continues.

The report provided no suggestions on how to reverse the public's mistrust of science or how this anti-science movement might continue in the coming years.

Despite losing the 2020 presidential election, Trump is still a powerful figure in American politics, and his bid for president in 2024 is gathering significant momentum. It looks like the rise of anti-science is far from done, whatever the future may bring.

Trump's profound consequences on US society are unlikely to go away anytime soon, and in certain cases, they may even get worse. This is true even though his future is unknown. The study comes to the conclusion that even if support for Trump himself declines, aspects of conspiracy theory and rejection of science may grow more prominent among his core supporters or attach to new issues and leaders.