Science-utility and science-trust associations and how they relate to knowledge about how science works

Area of Science:

• Psychology of Science
• Science Communication
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Public trust in science and its perceived utility are decreasing.
• This erosion is exacerbated by the rise of "alternative facts" and personal opinions.
• Scientific findings are crucial for individual and societal decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate Implicit Association Tests (IATs) for measuring science-utility and science-trust associations.
• To assess the psychometric properties and predictive potential of these indirect measures.
• To explore how these associations differ from explicit self-reported beliefs.

Main Methods:

• Development of two IATs targeting science-utility and science-trust.
• Psychometric evaluation of the IATs.
• A study involving 261 university students.

Main Results:

• The developed IATs demonstrated good psychometric properties.
• IAT measures showed low correlations with corresponding self-report scales.
• Science-utility and science-trust associations significantly predicted knowledge about science, beyond self-reported beliefs.

Conclusions:

• Indirect measures, such as IATs, are valuable tools for assessing implicit beliefs about science.
• These indirect measures offer unique predictive power for understanding science knowledge.
• Findings suggest the utility of IATs in contexts where direct reporting of negative beliefs about science may be influenced by social desirability.