Testing the cultural-invariance hypothesis: A global analysis of the relationship between scientific knowledge and attitudes to science

Abstract

A substantial body of research has demonstrated that science knowledge is correlated with attitudes towards science, with most studies finding a positive relationship between the two constructs; people who are more knowledgeable about science tend to be more positive about it. However, this evidence base has been almost exclusively confined to high and middle- income democracies, with poorer and less developed nations excluded from consideration. In this study, we conduct the first global investigation of the science knowledgeattitude relationship, using the 2018 Wellcome Global Monitor survey. Our results show a positive knowledge-attitude correlation in all but one of the 144 countries investigated. This robust cross-national relationship is consistent across both science literacy and selfassessed measures of science knowledge.