Did we trust in science during the COVID‐19 pandemic? Modeling the relationship between trust, awareness, and conspiracy theories

Abstract Height on the COVID‐19 pandemic (2020–2021), a considerable atmosphere of uncertainty and insecurity has emerged throughout the world. At the same time, social media and conspiracy theories have gained a lot of popularity. However, due to the impact of science and scientists on the public countering these sources of information, the outcome of the test given by science during the pandemic is still unclear. In this study, the relationship between trust in science and scientists, reliance on social media, belief in conspiracy theories, and pandemic awareness is modeled. A total of 953 adults from Turkey participated in the study and the obtained data were analyzed with the structural equation model. According to the results of the path analysis, reliance on social media influencers and belief in conspiracy theories affect trust in science both directly and indirectly. In addition, there is a positive relationship between pandemic awareness and trust in science.