Scientists aren’t Republicans

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An intriguing new set of numbers from the Pew Research Center details American attitudes about science and scientists. In general, the U.S. public has an extremely positive view of the role science plays in our society. 84% say they hold science and scientists in “high regard.” In fact, 70% say that scientists “contribute ‘a lot’ to society’s well-being.” The clergy, by comparison register at 40% for the same question, and lawyers come in at 23%.

But before we go filling our beakers with champagne to toast the enlightenment of the average American Joe and Josephine, the study finds some places where scientists and ordinary citizens still don’t see eye-to-eye.

For instance, just 32% of the American public believe that humans evolved from lower species. 87% of scientists do. Only 49% of the public believes global warming is caused by people, while 84% of scientists do.

Actually, that 49% of Americans now accept global warming as man made shows that scientists (as they should in matters of science, after all) are having a big impact on social attitudes. But does that influence extend into the political arena, too? Is the dwindling of the Republican party in some way connected to what scientists believe?

According to Pew, just 6% of all scientists self-identify as Republicans, and only 9% consider themselves to be ideologically “conservative.” But here again, public perception seems to lag behind the views of the scientists themselves:

For its part, the public does not perceive scientists as a particularly liberal group. When asked whether they think of scientists as liberal, conservative or neither in particular, nearly two-thirds (64%) chose the latter option.

56% of scientists themselves, however, self-identify as “liberal”, and 35% say that they are politically “moderate.”