Politics, Belief, and Public Attitudes Toward Science in Turkey

Recent research suggests that people's attitudes toward scientific issues can be mediated by a range of identities. Both gender and political identity may also shape perspectives on the relations between science and religion. In this talk, we present our findings from our INSBS-funded project on how religious people in Turkey perceive three scientific issues that have generated controversy in recent years: vaccination (especially mRNA vaccines), gender and sexuality, and climate change. Focusing on these three issues, we discuss the ways in which not only science in general but particular types of scientific expertise, including expertise in the social sciences, are perceived by religious Muslims in Turkey, and the degree to which scientists are seen as trustworthy. We compare the views of religious political elites and ordinary religious citizens, and analyze the extent to which official and elite views shape the views of religious political parties' assumed constituencies. Based on our findings, we discuss the ways in which both political identity and gender may inform attitudes toward controversial scientific topics.