Do people think that scientists are bad people? The psychology of science is concerned with evaluations of science, and so also with evaluations of scientists. Our research shows that attitudes towards scientists are ambivalent. Initial work indicates that scientists are perceived as not inherently immoral, but as capable of immoral conduct. However, this crucially depends on how (im-)morality is defined.
Example publications
Rutjens, B. T., Niehoff, E., & Heine, S. J. The (im-)moral scientist? Measurement and framing effects shape the association between scientists and immorality. Under review.
Rutjens, B. T., & Heine, S. J. (2016). The immoral landscape? Scientists are associated with violations of morality. PLoS ONE, 11(4): e0152798