The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a nationwide conversation in the U.S. about how much people trust scientists and trained medical professionals. But for some communities, distrust has been the norm.
For at least 50 years, underrepresented groups in the U.S., including African Americans and women, have been less likely to trust scientists, according to David Lazer, a distinguished professor of political science and computer science at Northeastern University. That demographic chasm in trust can potentially turn deadly if it means people are less likely to turn to trusted sources of information, which is why Lazer wanted to get to the bottom of it.
“We have these systematic gaps, and that has consequences because, on general principle, there are benefits to trusting scientific institutions,” Lazer said. “Sometimes we’ve been led astray, but generally there are benefits. Getting vaccinated is good, and that has a whole set of downstream benefits.”
In a new paper, Lazer reports one potential explanation for why this trust gap exists: diversity, or, more accurately, lack of diversity.
