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Science and scientists as belonging to a malign elite group opposed to ordinary people
Political leanings are a known driver of people’s attitudes towards scientific findings that are politically charged, and vaccination has become politicised in many countries.
A large body of research has established that across the globe, people with right-wing political views are presently more likely to reject scientific findings than people on the left. In the case of vaccinations, the association tends to be small and finds expression in different ways.
Vaccine opposition in European countries including the UK is related to nationalism, right-wing populism, and individualistic and hierarchical worldviews. Politically-motivated opposition to vaccinations can become particularly acute in the case of mandates.
This theme taps into a populist worldview and casts scientists and clinicians as belonging to an elite group that is set against ordinary people.
Vaccine inequality springs from this theme, arguing that vaccines result in new health disparities.
It is understandable that some people will have a negative view of scientists. They may seem like a mysterious and elite group who produce ‘the science’ quoted by politicians. Unfortunately, scientists do not always communicate effectively, and this can make it hard for people to understand the evidence. Limited access to research findings and published papers also makes scientific research seem for an elite few.
Dialogue between patients and healthcare professionals is most productive if it is guided by empathy, and an opportunity for the patient to affirm the reasons underlying their attitudes and to express understanding for that. That’s why it is important to understand the attitude roots behind people’s overt opinions. To affirm a person’s underlying attitude root does not mean we need to agree with the specifics of their argument. For example, we can acknowledge that:
It is understandable that some people will have a negative view of scientists. They may seem like a mysterious and elite group who produce ‘the science’ quoted by politicians. Unfortunately, scientists do not always communicate effectively, and this can make it hard for people to understand the evidence. Limited access to research findings and published papers also makes scientific research seem for an elite few.
The ‘scientific community’ is a very diverse group of professionals, where people from many disciplines and cultures collaborate, exchange results and, if possible, reach consensus.
Scientists are not that different from the rest of society; they have the same concerns and are equally affected by political decisions.
In fact, scientists often have big problems with political powers, because some scientific results are uncomfortable for established power structures or powerful industries. The tobacco industry opposed medical science for decades, and the fossil fuel industry is currently opposing climate science.
Being an expert scientist is the result of an educational process that takes decades, just like any profession that requires years of training. It does not make sense to adopt an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ thinking when problems affect us all. We are all in this together.
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