Conspiracy beliefs higher among millennials and Trump supporters, 主要研究 research finds

2022年5月11日,星期三
汉密尔顿·史密斯大厅鸟瞰图

地球是平的吗?? 美国宇航局伪造了登月吗? COVID-19疫苗是否会在人体内植入微芯片? A recent survey by the University of New Hampshire looked at the public acceptance of these types of conspiracy claims compared to statements based on scientific facts. They found only around 10% agreed with conspiracy claims and while that was low overall, it was significantly higher among certain subgroups including millennials and supporters of former President Donald Trump.

“Pseudo-scientific conspiracy claims get a lot of attention in the headlines and on social media, 比如Facebook和Twitter, 在那里他们被狂热的信徒和喷子分享, 给人的印象是,支持这种说法的人越来越多,” 劳伦斯•汉密尔顿他是社会学教授,也是哈佛大学的高级研究员 卡西公共政策学院. “But we found that only nine to 12% of people agree with these claims.”

在全国范围内 研究, researchers asked people to respond to a series of statements that seemed to be related to science but were a mix of conspiracy beliefs (like vaccination microchips) right alongside well-established basic scientific facts (like the Earth is very old). Despite the recent mistrust and doubt in science during the pandemic, the respondents surveyed nationwide agreed mostly with the statements based on scientific facts, 从58%的人支持永利app新版本官网地址人类进化的陈述, 而地球绕太阳转的概率是83%.

研究人员认为是阴谋论思维, 或者阴谋论的想法, 已经成为当前美国经济的一个显著特征.S. politics, shaping how many people think about elections, the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues. 研究ers chose conspiracies that did not have any overt political connections, 比如特朗普声称2020年总统大选“被盗”. 仍然, Trump followers were more likely to agree with the conspiracies and less likely to agree with basic science.

“除了政治, age or generational patterns are prominent but it is not clear why millennials would be more open to flat Earth and microchip conspiracies,汉密尔顿说。. “One thought is that social media could play a role with younger generations frequenting more conspiracy-rich corners of the internet.”

研究ers point to broad anti-vaccine claims that are widely available on social media that have been discredited in the scientific literature. 千禧, 以及Z世代, respondents were also less likely to agree that vaccines have mostly been a benefit to human health, as opposed to older generations who have more experience with diseases like polio, 流行性腮腺炎及麻疹. 永利app新版本官网地址植入微芯片的说法, researchers point to the possibility that younger generations may be more accustomed to the increase in constant public and private surveillance in society. 研究人员对任何代际观念都提出了警告, noting that younger respondents were significantly more likely to agree with the scientific consensus that climate change is happening now and caused mainly by human activities.

2021年全国波兰人调查, 专注于科学知识和认知, 得到了国家科学基金会的支持.

摄影师: 
斯科特·里普利 | 主要研究营销 | 斯科特.ripley@femdomcenter.com | 603-862-1855