Does the generation in which someone came of age affect how claims to scientific authority are interpreted?
A closer account of the question, evidence, and how to interpret this work.
Mistrusting the Messenger, coauthored with Dovilė Budrytė, asks whether political generations respond differently to the framing of scientific authority. People may encounter the same substantive statement but interpret its credibility through the institution, expert, or messenger presenting it. The project treats the source of a claim as part of the political meaning of expertise.
Formative political experience may affect which institutions a person sees as deserving the benefit of the doubt. But age and cohort membership are not sufficient evidence for memory-based explanation. A convincing analysis must distinguish the effects of message content, source cues, political predispositions, and different historical experiences rather than assuming that all members of a cohort perceive authority identically.
The 2026 CV lists the manuscript as under review. Without the current experimental or observational specifications and the author-approved results, the portfolio should not invent treatment conditions or report differences between age groups. The page presents an identifiable research puzzle and its relationship to the larger study of science trust.
Source: Young and Budrytė, Mistrusting the Messenger, manuscript under review in the 2026 CV.
The source record establishes the title and manuscript stage, but not the study's finished experimental treatments, estimates, or findings. These should be populated only from the author-approved manuscript.
Under review · Manuscript · Laura Young and Dovilė Budrytė · Current manuscript listed in the 2026 CV.