The Influence of Public Engagement with Science on Trust in Science During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Testing a Mediation Model

Trust in science has become a major factor in combating the COVID-19-caused crisis. This study aimed to investigate the underlying mechanism between public engagement with science (PES) and trust in science during the pandemic. A large-scale survey (N = 9,490) was conducted in China. First, the distinction between general trust in science and specific trust in science regarding the pandemic was examined. Second, the association between PES and trust in science concerning the pandemic was examined. Third, a structural equation model was applied to investigate the relationship between PES and trust in science. The results showed that both types of trust were associated with PES, and the perceived prominence of scientists during the pandemic mediated the effect of PES on trust in science. These findings demonstrated that scientists’ performance and participation in the public sphere are vital for promoting confidence in science during the pandemic. Plain Language Summary This study aimed to investigate the association between public engagement with science (PES) and trust in science during the pandemic. A large-scale survey (N = 9490) was conducted in China and a structural equation model was applied to investigate the relationship between PES and trust in science. This study showed that the perceived prominence of scientists during the pandemic mediated the effect of PES on trust in science. This finding demonstrated that scientists’ performance and participation in the public sphere are vital for promoting confidence in science during the pandemic. The main limitation of this study is that the participants were primarily university students which was not representative of the entire population of China.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  SAGE Open

• Publication date

  2025-10-01

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1177/21582440251408927
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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