Denison University, USA.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA.
Public Underst Sci. 2019 Nov;28(8):897-916. doi: 10.1177/0963662519863575. Epub 2019 Jul 27.
Pressing environmental, social, and economic problems require interventions informed by scientific expertise yet skepticism of organized science runs high among some groups. Numerous studies show how individual-level experiences and identities translate into attitudes about science, but less is known about the contextual factors that shape these beliefs. We employ regression models using data from the International Social Survey Program and the World Development Indicators to examine how national levels of scientific activity influence public perceptions of science. Our analysis of data from 76,858 individuals in 41 countries finds that education is associated with greater appreciation of science cross-nationally. This relationship is amplified in countries with high levels of scientific activity and attenuated in countries with less scientific activity. These results underscore the importance of national context for understanding perceptions of science, and suggest that improving science attitudes requires attention to both individual and country-level factors.
紧迫的环境、社会和经济问题需要科学专业知识的干预，但一些群体对有组织的科学持高度怀疑态度。许多研究表明，个人层面的经验和身份如何转化为对科学的态度，但对于塑造这些信仰的背景因素知之甚少。我们使用国际社会调查项目和世界发展指标的数据，采用回归模型来研究国家科学活动水平如何影响公众对科学的看法。我们对来自 41 个国家的 76858 个人的数据进行分析，发现教育与人们对科学的普遍欣赏呈正相关。在科学活动水平高的国家，这种关系更为明显，而在科学活动水平较低的国家，这种关系则较为减弱。这些结果强调了国家背景对理解科学观念的重要性，并表明改善科学态度需要关注个人和国家层面的因素。
