Trusting But Forgetting Impressive Science

Abstract Cultural beliefs and practices often spread because they appeal to existing cognitive mechanisms. Science, however, appears to be an exception. Scientific concepts are highly counterintuitive, and people know very little about science, yet it is among the most trusted institutions. Here, we test a cognitive model of trust in science that is compatible with these observations: the rational impression account. According to this account, people trust scientists because they are impressed by their findings, and this impression persists after specific knowledge has vanished. We present evidence for this model in two experiments (total n = 696) with UK participants. In Experiment 1, exposure to more impressive scientific findings led participants to think of the relevant scientists as more competent and their scientific discipline as more trustworthy. In Experiment 2, we show that participants have these impressions despite almost immediately forgetting relevant content.