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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

What makes people trust AI? Find out in our new paper. One curious finding: in Japan, people who think AI may replace their job actually trust AI more. doi.org/10.1007/s001... trusttracker.org/publications...

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

In both the UK and Japan, people on the political right were more likely to support protecting controversial or offensive research, while those on the left saw social sensitivity and avoiding potential harm as more important. (3/4)

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Most people in our surveys supported academic freedom in principle, but divisions emerge over offensive research, controversial findings, or collaboration with abusive regimes. In both the UK and Japan, ideology strongly predicts where people draw the line. (2/4)

Four graphs showing perceptions of academic freedom.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Ghent University says academic freedom has "great importance" but is "not unlimited" and "goes hand in hand with responsibility". We tested this tension in the UK and Japan: theconversation.com/how-politica... (1/4)

theconversation.com

How political leanings affect views on academic freedom – new research

Right-leaning respondents were consistently more supportive of academic freedom.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

"If Nigel Farage was watching this interview, what would you say to him?" In a Japanese TV exclusive, TBS News Dig asks the big questions of Count Binface.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Do elections build trust simply by happening? In Japan’s local elections, trust rose where governor races accompanied council elections, especially among lower-income/less-educated citizens. Efficacy didn’t. doi.org/10.1080/1745... trusttracker.org/pb_main.php?... @martinejnar.bsky.social

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

It hasn’t been a great week for the public image of UK universities. But our surveys suggest uni lecturers were already struggling for public sympathy: only 36% support them striking. doi.org/10.1177/0143... trusttracker.org/pb_main.php?... @tjscotto.bsky.social @jasonreifler.bsky.social

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Gorgeous night for a SUP in Amsterdam.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Today I take over the reins as Director of the Computational Social Science programme at the University of Amsterdam. Our students use computational methods to understand and solve complex societal problems. Huge thanks to Eelke Heemskerk, and to our brilliant team, students and partners!

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Top work by our Computational Social Science students at @UvA_Amsterdam! The Amsterdam Cool Map, built by our students and supervised by Rens Wilderom, is now live and featured in @at5.nl, @ad.nl, @rtl.nl and @volkskrant.nl. www.koeltekaartamsterdam.nl

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Yes, it's fascinating that academic freedom faces threats on many different fronts!

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

My colleagues and I asked whether universities should do research that some find offensive. We found fascinating age, gender, education and left-right political differences: trusttracker.org/pb_main.php?...

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

New in PLOS ONE: ethnic differences in NHS trust and satisfaction in England. Gaps are clearest in care, ethics & discrimination. With Martin Ejnar Hansen, Yosuke Sunahara, @tjscotto.bsky.social , @jasonreifler.bsky.social , Han Dorussen & Dorothy Yen. doi.org/10.1371/jour...

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Would you trust AI in public administration? Martin Ejnar Hansen, Yosuke Sunahara and I find out in our new article in the International Journal of Public Administration @ijpa2022.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/0190... trusttracker.org

A small white guidance robot standing in a Japanese public-service building beside a sign explaining that a robot customer guidance experiment is underway.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Thanks for the name-check, @rajakorman.bsky.social . For anyone desperate to read the full article, it's here: doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...

doi.org

Redirecting

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Why do people buy organic food? Martin Ejnar Hansen, Yosuke Sunahara and I find it’s less about taste and more about trust. New paper in Organic Agriculture, plus explainer in @uk.theconversation.com theconversation.com/embargo-tbc-... doi.org/10.1007/s131...

theconversation.com

Choosing to buy organic food depends more on trust than taste – what our new study in the UK and Japan shows

In both the UK and Japan, people who trusted the government were more willing to pay extra for organic food.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Most people support academic freedom (in principle). But once we move beyond principles, politics kicks in. Our new research is featured in this piece in The Conversation. theconversation.com/how-politica...

theconversation.com

How political leanings affect views on academic freedom – new research

Right-leaning respondents were consistently more supportive of academic freedom.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Trust in the BBC is taking a hammering. In my ABC interview with Suzanne Hill, I explain that while there are things the BBC can fix, there are other things out of their control. You can hear the full interview here: trusttracker.org/media_main.p...

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

500+ days for a desk reject is my record...

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Resident doctors are striking again. My research with Martin Ejnar Hansen shows strikes by medical workers have high levels of public support, shaped strongly by trust in the NHS and political identity. Right-leaning and Conservative voters are less supportive. trusttracker.org/pb_main.php?...

trusttracker.org

TrustTracker.org

An international collaboration looking at trust across society

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Honoured to see our UK-Japan TrustTracker.org research cited in the House of Lords report "Is working from home working?" committees.parliament.uk/committee/77... The inequalities in who can work from home matter just as much as productivity debates.

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Reposted by Steve Pickering

House of Lords Home-based Working Committee @hlhomeworking.parliament.uk · 12/11/2025

🚨 5 years on from when the COVID-19 pandemic confined many to their homes, how has remote working changed the UK workplace, and what is its future? We are publishing our report tomorrow at 00.05 #WFH

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Tim Davie and Deborah Turness have resigned from the BBC. But our data suggest this moment has deeper roots: trust in the BBC has become sharply divided along political lines. The broadcaster’s real challenge isn’t managerial; it’s cultural and political. theconversation.com/trust-in-the...

theconversation.com

Trust in the BBC is heavily tied to political identity

Tim Davie and Deborah Turness have resigned over complaints of institutional bias but external perspectives on the broadcaster are far from uniform.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

No. If we break it down that way, 4 is the midpoint; the "neither trust nor distrust". 22 per cent chose that. 46 per cent chose 1-3 (so do not trust), while 32 per cent chose 5-7 (trust).

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

This is an interesting thought, but the two fill different purposes. Our YouGov research based on over 11,000 people finds that trust levels in the BBC are driven by voting patterns in a way that trust in newspapers is not. There's no Con/Lab difference in trust in papers, but there is in the BBC.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

You may have a point on that one, Leon. We didn't run trust on individual titles, so cannot test on that, sadly.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

No idea. Only ran surveys in the UK and Japan.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

We ran some models on that, to control for trust in scientists. People on the right who trust scientists still tend to have lower trust in the BBC.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

Similar, but not as pronounced. Here's trust in traditional news, such as newspapers. No Lab/Con divide at all. We ran the same surveys in Japan, swapping out BBC with NHK. No partisan differences at all. Both within the UK, and compared to other public service broadcasters, the BBC has a problem.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

They also need to overcome the partisan gulf of trust facing them, revealed in our surveys of over 11,000 people. www.trusttracker.org/pb_main.php?...

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

The BBC really is facing some trust issues, as our surveys of over 11,000 people reveal. www.trusttracker.org/pb_main.php?...

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

The BBC once again finds itself making news, rather than breaking news. As my colleagues and I find, based on surveying over 11,000 people, one part of British society trusts the BBC a lot more than another. There's a clear partisan and left-right divide in trust for the BBC.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Is it ok for politicians to use AI? That's what my colleagues Martin Ejnar Hansen, Yosuke Sunahara and I aimed to find out in our latest research! theconversation.com/is-it-ok-for...

theconversation.com

Is it ok for politicians to use AI? Survey shows where the public draws the line

The public feel ok about some uses of AI in parliament, but they’re very opposed to it making decisions.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Would you trust politicians to use AI to help them with their work? What about a robot making decisions for them? My colleagues Martin Ejnar Hansen, Yosuke Sunahara and I find out in Parliamentary Affairs! doi.org/10.1093/pa/g... @hansardsociety.bsky.social @ukparliament.parliament.uk

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

The BBC is a partisan battleground, but Japan's NHK isn't. My colleagues Marting Ejnar Hansen, Yosuke Sunahara and I find out why in this piece for The Conversation. doi.org/10.64628/AB....

doi.org

The BBC is a partisan battleground – why does Japan’s public broadcaster escape the same fate?

The BBC commands middling levels of trust overall, but those levels are deeply polarised.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

To find our more, visit our project website, TrustTracker.org

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Our new paper on who trusts the BBC vs NHK finds that while UK Conservatives really don't trust the BBC, there is no partisan divide in trust for NHK in Japan. doi.org/10.1515/comm... #MediaTrust #BBC #NHK #UK #Japan

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Reposted by Steve Pickering

Tom Scotto @tjscotto.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

New in JEMS! 🚨 Led by Riku Kawakami & part of the TrustTracker.org project: Who gets in? Immigration preferences in England & Japan 🇬🇧🇯🇵 Finding: Labour demand matters as much as skills — even low-skill jobs in shortage areas get strong support. 👉 doi.org/10.1080/1369...

trusttracker.org

TrustTracker.org

An international collaboration looking at trust across society

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Reposted by Steve Pickering

Torgil Lyreskog @tlg54.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

japantoday.com/category/fea...? Seaweed is one of the few foods that can credibly claim to be good for both people and the planet. So why don’t Westerners eat more of it? From an environmental and nutritional standpoint, seaweed seems like an obvious choice for a sustainable diet.

japantoday.com

Why are Westerners so reluctant to eat seaweed?

Seaweed is one of the few foods that can credibly claim to be good for both people and the planet. So why don’t Westerners eat more of it? It’s rich in vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids and fibe...

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Seaweed is good for you, and good for the environment, as my students and Samuel L. Jackson explain in this piece for The Conversation. theconversation.com/why-are-west...

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Seaweed is good for your health, and great for the environment. But westerners hardly eat it. My fantastic students find out why in their new publication in Food Quality and Preference! doi.org/10.1016/j.fo...

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Fascinating piece by m'colleague Stuart Fox on religion in British politics: Reform is winning Christian support. theconversation.com/new-polling-...

theconversation.com

New polling: Reform is winning over Britain’s Christian support

38% of Anglicans rate their likelihood of voting for the party as high.

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Steve Pickering @stevepickering.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Who trusts the police, and who doesn’t? In England, young, non-White, low-income Londoners are among the least trusting. At the other end: older, White, working-class women outside London. Open access: 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1043... 👥 With @ferhattura19.bsky.social, Martin Ejnar Hansen & James Hunter

doi.org

Intersectional inequalities in trust in the police in England

This study investigates intersectional inequalities in trust in the police in England using multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy (MAIHDA) for the first time. ...

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