Scientists have found four factors that may explain the recent rise in anti-science sentiment.
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According to the authors of the new work, anti-scientificBeliefs have four foundations. Here they are: lack of trust in scientific sources; identification with groups holding anti-scientific views; the scientific message is contrary to the person's current beliefs; discrepancy between the way the message is presented and the person's way of thinking.
“People find it difficult to deal with such conflicts, and therefore it is easier for them to simply reject scientific information that does not yet fit into what they believe,” the scientists explained.
The authors also noted that in recentdecades, there has been a marked increase in anti-scientific sentiment. This became especially noticeable during the pandemic, when opponents of vaccination showed themselves. “Vaccinations used to be the standard thing everyone took. But in recent years, there have been several events that have forced people to go against the scientific consensus on vaccinations and other issues, ”said one of the authors. One of these developments, of course, is the growing popularity of social networks and various sources of information, where people can get a pleasant interpretation of the facts. Researchers also point to another related phenomenon: the growing importance of political ideology in the modern world.