Trust and scientific expertise: cultural determinants (France, United Kingdom)

Controversies such as the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis in France and the United Kingdom have contributed to a growing lack of trust in scientific institutions and expert figures. During disputes about appropriate methods of managing the crisis, scientific complexity was intentionally downplayed, generating distrust in authority figures and institutions.  

We are, more recently, entering into what has been described as an era of misinformation or post-truth, when scientific uncertainty and emotional insecurities are being exploited to support conflicting and contested courses of action. This shifting cultural context is exacerbating already fraught relationships between publics, scientists, organizations, and institutions.  

Studies of the cultural contexts that shape public trust in science suggest that health education campaigns should move away from cultural preferences for scientific closure towards an explicit and careful engagement with the limits of scientific knowledge. 

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