Trust, Control, and Experts

Fathali M. Moghaddam, PhD
January 31, 2003 (Reviewed: January 21, 2005)

Which groups are trusted in modern societies?

In the journal Nature (Dec 2002, Vol. 420, no. 6917) it is reported that in a recent poll taken in the United States, "Americans ranked 'scientist' as the most prestigious profession, edging out 'doctor' which had topped the list for the previous five years . . . 68% of respondents said they trust scientists to tell the truth - more than the number who trusted the president, and fifth behind teachers, doctors, professors and police officers".

It is clear that both scientists and doctors enjoy a relatively high level of trust among the general public of most societies (both scientists and doctors are consistently listed among the five or six 'most trusted' groups in recent polls). However, it is also evident that the relationship between the public and 'experts', particularly scientists and doctors, has undergone a dramatic change in recent decades.

Ambivalence in attitudes toward scientists and doctors

Most recently, the relationship between the public and two important groups associated with health care, doctors and scientists, has become ambivalent.

On the one hand, the public is well aware of the great progress made in the science and practice of medicine. Breakthroughs in medical science have brought tangible benefits to all our lives. We now live longer, we enjoy the benefits of better medical treatments, and the prospects for the future seem very positive. Scientific research and improved medical treatments hold the promise of bringing under control even AIDS and cancer. Of course, these benefits are not equally distributed across societies and across all groups of people, but the general trend is a positive one.

On the other hand, a lot of changes have taken place to undermine the traditional public attitude that 'doctor knows best' and 'science can be trusted'. Some such changes are often discussed in the mass media and even in the academic journals, such as Nature and Science. For example, in 2002 a number of well-publicized cases of scientific misconduct brought to an end the careers of some 'star' researchers and led to calls for more stringent ethical rules in scientific research. Even more well publicized have been controversies about genetic manipulation of plants and food, stem cell research, and cloning. In these areas scientific research seems to be moving in directions that makes many members of the general public very uneasy.

This situation is not helped by bogus claims about human cloning. The general public is extremely concerned about the possibility of human cloning, and any claim about human cloning will attract a great deal of media attention. For this reason, some individuals and business corporations eager to attract attention (and investments) will make baseless claims about human cloning just to attract widespread attention. It is predictable that over the next few years 'scientists' from such unethical corporations will make statements such as, "We have successfully cloned a human being, but we are unable to give you more information because we have to respect the privacy of cloned baby". This kind of behavior on the part of some individuals who call themselves 'scientists' creates further anxieties about scientific research, both in the area of genetic engineering specifically and in medical research generally.

But another important reason for anxiety about scientific research, particularly in areas such as cloning and genetically altered food, is that it seems to undermine our sense of control; we come to feel that we have less and less control over the course of events, and that the 'natural order of things' is being altered by others who have gained control through expert knowledge.

Our sense of control

It is useful to think about our sense of control as being to different degrees 'internal' and 'external'. Consider the following scenario.

Jack collapses while sitting behind his desk at work and he is rushed to hospital, where it is discovered that he has had a stroke. After he returns home, Jack says to his wife, "Well there's nothing I can do about it, it's just out of my control. Another stroke could hit me any time and end my life soon, or maybe nothing goes wrong and I live another twenty years. These are things we simply don't control. It's fate." If Jack responds to the situation in this way, he is demonstrating an 'external locus of control', in the sense that he believes destiny is determined by factors external to himself.

But Jack could adopt an alternative approach and say to his wife, "The stroke was a warning sign, and I can reduce the risk of another stroke by changing my behavior. I intend to change my eating habits and have a balanced diet so I can bring my weight down to a healthy level. I'm also going to go for walks and do light exercise. I can do things to improve my health and prevent another stroke." If Jack adopts this attitude, he is showing an 'internal locus of control', meaning he believes he can control his own destiny.

There are variations across individuals in the extent to which they have an internal and external locus of control. Julian Rotter¹is a pioneer in developing measures of locus of control. He developed a questionnaire that requires participants to make choices between pairs of statements, indicating which of the pair they more strongly believe.

Try this for yourself, to see the extent to which your locus of control is internal/external. The following are five examples of pair choices. Do you more strongly believe statement (A) or (B) from each of the following pairs (the key is given at the bottom of this page)?

1. (A) What happens to me is my own doing.
   (B) Sometimes I feel that I don't have enough control over the direction my life is taking.
   
   
2. (A) People are lonely because they don't try to be friendly.
   (B) There's not much use in trying hard to please people, if they like you, they like you.
   
   
3. (A) As far as world affairs is concerned, most of us are the victims of forces we can neither understand nor control.
   (B) By taking an active part in political and social affairs, the people can control world events.
   
   
4. (A) Becoming a success is a matter of hard work, luck has little or nothing to do with it.
   (B) Getting a good job depends mainly on being in the right place at the right time.
   
   
5. (A) Many times I feel that I have little influence over the things that happen to me.
   (B) It is impossible for me to believe that chance or luck plays an important role in my life.

Although there are differences between individuals in the extent to which they have an internal/external locus of control, for many of us the experience that we have no control, or that we are losing control, tends to be associated with anxiety and distress. This is particularly true in domains where lack of control seems to be leading to an uncertain and possibly dangerous future. For example, in domains such as genetically altered foods and cloning, the future seems to be unknown, and there seems to be a real danger that we are losing control, that factors external to us are taking over. This is magnified by the activities of some rogue 'scientists', for example when they announce that they have already cloned humans. However, it usually does not take more than a few weeks before such rogues are exposed for what they are, and we recognize the difference between them and trustworthy scientists.

KEY
The selections 1 B, 2 B, 3 A, 4 B, and 5 A represent the external items. Add up the total number of external items to get an indication of how external/internal you are. The original questionnaire has 29 pairs ¹.

Footnotes
1. Rotter, J.B. Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 1966, 80, 1, Whole No. 609.

Related Links
Senior Meeting Place - the mini-site authored by Fathali M. Moghaddam
Why Do I Get So Anxious?
Physical Health and Emotional Health I
Physical Health and Emotional Health II

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