A four-level model of political polarization over science: Evidence from 10 European countries

Citizens’ trust in science increasingly depends on their political leaning. Structural equation models on survey data from 10 European countries (N = 5306) demonstrate that this science polarization can be captured by a model with four levels of generalization. Voters of populist parties distrust the system and elite in general, which indirectly fuels a broad science skepticism. At another level, right-wingers have less trust in science as a whole than left-wingers. After accounting for this general skepticism, left-wingers and right-wingers are, however, similarly prone to contest ideology-incongruent research fields and specific claims. These findings have three implications. First, research on science skepticism should carefully consider all four levels and their interplay. Second, the science polarization between populist and non-populist voters has fundamentally different origins than the effect of left–right ideology. Third, a four-level model can expose ideological symmetries in science rejection that have previously remained largely undetected in observational studies.