Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41243166›Full record

ArticlePublic understanding of science (Bristol, England)2026

Trust in scientists and doctors: The roles of faith, politics, education and gender.

Steven David Pickering, Martin Ejnar Hansen, Han Dorussen, Jason Reifler, Thomas J Scotto, Yosuke Sunahara, Dorothy Yen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Public understanding of science (Bristol, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Steven David PickeringUniversity of Amsterdam, Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-1357-2994
Martin Ejnar HansenBrunel University London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3637-208X
Han DorussenUniversity of Essex, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3458-0555
Jason ReiflerUniversity of Southampton, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1116-7346
Thomas J ScottoUniversity of Strathclyde, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-4801-6821
Yosuke SunaharaKobe University, Japan.ORCID 0009-0001-0759-1478
Dorothy YenBrunel University London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1129-9653

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This article examines trust in science in England, focusing on variation across demographic and ideological groups. Using survey data from 11,173 respondents, we compare trust in two domains, medical doctors and scientists, to explore whether predictors operate similarly across these professional groups. We find higher education is associated with greater trust, while right-wing political orientation predicts lower trust. Religious affiliation also matters, with some faith groups reporting lower trust relative to the non-religious baseline. Gender differences emerge as well, particularly in trust in medical doctors. Respondents selecting 'Prefer not to say' on the religion item report significantly lower trust in both doctors and scientists, consistent with a broader privacy-motivated disclosure style. Our results highlight the importance of considering not just overall levels of trust in science, but variation across education, ideology, religion and gender, and they suggest that trust in doctors and trust in scientists, while related, are not interchangeable.

Indexed as

PhysiciansPoliticsReligionScienceTrustAdultEducational StatusEnglandFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSex Factorseducationethnicityideologymedical doctorsreligionscientiststrusttrust in science

Identifiers

PMID41243166
PMCPMC12999988

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.