Psychological Distance to Science as a Predictor of Science Skepticism Across Domains.

This article presents and tests psychological distance to science (PSYDISC) as a domain-general predictor of science skepticism. Drawing on the concept of psychological distance, PSYDISC reflects the extent to which individuals perceive science as a tangible undertaking conducted by people similar to oneself (<i>social</i>), with effects in the here (<i>spatial</i>) and now (<i>temporal</i>), and as useful and applicable in the real world (<i>hypothetical distance</i>). In six studies (two preregistered; total <i>N</i> = 1,630) and two countries, we developed and established the factor structure and validity of a scale measuring PSYDISC. Crucially, higher PSYDISC predicted skepticism beyond established predictors, across science domains. A final study showed that PSYDISC shapes real-world behavior (COVID-19 vaccination uptake). This work thus provides a novel tool to predict science skepticism, as well as a construct that can help to further develop a unifying framework to understand science skepticism across domains.