Generational Memory and the Formation of Science Trust

Public trust in science has fractured over recent decades, and existing explanations—focusing on ideology or education—fail to fully explain this divergence. This paper introduces a generational memory framework, arguing that cohorts shaped by formative exposure to institutional crises (e.g., Vietnam, Watergate, post–Cold War realignment) develop distinct, lasting orientations toward scientific authority. Analyzing five decades of General Social Survey data with latent class and ordinal regression models, I show that trust in science strongly correlates with confidence in government and media—and varies systematically by generational memory. Cohorts socialized during periods of institutional disruption are distrustful or ambivalent epistemic classes, even after controlling for partisanship, education, race, and media trust. I conclude by outlining the implications for science communication, institutional legitimacy repair, and future research on how memory regimes shape epistemic trust in a fragmented media landscape. These findings reframe science trust as historically embedded and socially conditioned, not merely an artifact of ideology or education.