Climate Views and Changing Public Perceptions of the Practice of Science

Objective The credibility of science is under threat. Research on the social bases of trust‐in‐science is extensive, but less is known about public perceptions of how science is practiced. We investigate to what extent views about one of the most polarized science issues, climate change, predict beliefs about the rigor of the scientific method, confidence in scientific findings, and scientists’ communication and engagement efforts. Methods Using 2023 survey data from Maine, we perform ordered logit regression of beliefs about scientists and scientific practice on climate views and other key independent variables. Results Climate views strongly predict concern about scientists’ integrity and various aspects of the practice of science. We find little variation between the effects of climate change denial and belief that climatic changes are due to natural forces. Most notably, we find wide concern about undue influence by science‐sponsors on scientific findings, with climate views being the only significant predictor of these beliefs. Conclusion Our results confirm increasing skepticism about the integrity of scientists and science practice. Climate beliefs intertwine with these trends highlighting how calculated efforts to discredit climate science not only undermine responses to the climate crisis but also erode confidence in science more broadly.