Abstract
This article presents and tests psychological distance to science (PSYDISC) as a domain-general predictor of science skepticism. Drawing on the concept of psychological distance, PSYDISC reflects the extent to which individuals perceive science as a tangible undertaking conducted by people similar to oneself (social), with effects in the here (spatial) and now (temporal), and as useful and applicable in the real world (hypothetical distance). In six studies (two preregistered; total N = 1,630) and two countries, we developed and established the factor structure and validity of a scale measuring PSYDISC. Crucially, higher PSYDISC predicted skepticism beyond established predictors, across science domains. A final study showed that PSYDISC shapes real-world behavior (COVID-19 vaccination uptake). This work thus provides a novel tool to predict science skepticism, as well as a construct that can help to further develop a unifying framework to understand science skepticism across domains.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 18-37 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 3 Sept 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2024 |
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant Agreement No. 849125 awarded to B.T.R.).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Horizon 2020 Framework Programme | 849125 |
| European Research Council |