From Pacific Standard magazine:
The results revealed that scientists are perceived as more likely than members of other groups to commit certain, but not all, moral transgressions. Specifically, they were viewed as more likely to engage in serial murder, incest, and necrobestiality, but not more likely to cheat or abuse others.
This is best understood in the context of the Moral Foundations Theory, which asserts ethical norms can be categorized into two broad classifications: “individualizing” ones, which prohibit harming others and encourage fairness for all; and “binding” ones, which are based on notions of purity, loyalty, and deference to authority. Broadly speaking, the first set guides liberals’ moral thinking, while the second resonates with social conservatives.
The transgressions the scientists were seen as being more likely to commit generally fit into the “purity” realm. This provides one answer to the question of why conservatives are more likely to distrust scientists: Many see them as treading into forbidden territory.More.
Serial murder? Well maybe, of people who ask too many of the wrong kinds of grant-endangering questions.
See also: Why social sciences are a scandal of tax-funded nonsense.