Right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation predict rejection of science and scientists

John R Kerr,Marc S Wilson

doi:10.1177/1368430221992126

Abstract

Previous research has highlighted how ideological factors such as political self-identification, religiosity and conspiracy thinking influence our beliefs about scientific issues such as climate change and vaccination. Across three studies (combined N = 9,022) we expand on this line of inquiry to show for the first time that the ideological attitudes relating to authoritarianism and group-based dominance predict disagreement with the scientific consensus in several scientific domains. We show these effects are almost entirely mediated by varying combinations of ideological (political ideology, religiosity, free-market endorsement, conspiracy thinking) and science-specific (scientific knowledge, trust in scientists) constructs, depending on the scientific issue in question. Importantly, a general distrust of science and scientists emerges as the most consistent mediator across different scientific domains. We find that, consistent with previous research, the ideological roots of rejection of science vary across scientific issues. However, we also show that these roots may share a common origin in ideological attitudes regarding authority and equality.

Highlights

Previous research has highlighted how ideological factors such as political self-identification, religiosity and conspiracy thinking influence our beliefs about scientific issues such as climate change and vaccination
In terms of explaining possible links between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO) and rejection of science, the current study focuses on the four ideological constructs outlined above
The results indicate that students who endorse authoritarian or socially dominant values are more likely to hold beliefs in opposition to established scientific consensus regarding climate change, GM food and vaccination

Summary

Introduction

Previous research has highlighted how ideological factors such as political self-identification, religiosity and conspiracy thinking influence our beliefs about scientific issues such as climate change and vaccination. Across three studies (combined N = 9,022) we expand on this line of inquiry to show for the first time that the ideological attitudes relating to authoritarianism and group-based dominance predict disagreement with the scientific consensus in several scientific domains We show these effects are almost entirely mediated by varying combinations of ideological (political ideology, religiosity, free-market endorsement, conspiracy thinking) and science-specific (scientific knowledge, trust in scientists) constructs, depending on the scientific issue in question. 26) based around the perception that secret, powerful groups are behind important social, political or economic events People who exhibit this propensity to endorse conspiracy theories are more likely to reject scientific findings across a number of issues, including: climate change, vaccines, evolution, GM food, HIV, and the link between cancer and smoking (Lewandowsky, Gignac, & Oberauer, 2013; Lewandowsky, Oberauer, & Gignac, 2013; Lobato & Zimmerman, 2019). In the context of the Dual Process Model, Duckitt and Sibley (2016) describe these ideological attitudes as “two broad motivationally (or value) based social attitude or ideological dimensions” (p. 190)

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