Americans are much more skeptical of the motivation behind the awarding of the prestigious international Nobel Prizes following President Obama's win Friday of the Nobel Peace Prize.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 58% of American adults now believe that politics plays a role in the awarding of the Nobel Prize. That's an 18-point jump from 40% a year ago.

Just 21% of Americans say politics does not play a role in the awarding of the Nobel Prize. Twenty-one percent (21%) are not sure.

The survey was taken Friday and Saturday nights following the Nobel committee's announcement Friday that the president is the latest recipient of the Peace Prize. Previous winners include Dr. Martin Luther King, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, ex-President Jimmy Carter, Mother Theresa and former Vice President Al Gore.

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Given Obama's win, it's not surprising to find that 76% of Republicans think politics play a role in the awarding of the prize while Democrats are evenly divided. Sixty-six percent (66%) of adults not affiliated with either party say politics are at play in the giving of the award.

But 48% of all Americans now say, generally speaking, that Nobel Prizes are the most prestigious award a person can win, up 10 points from 38% in 2008. Unchanged is the belief by 32% that the Nobels are not the most prestigious awards. Twenty percent (20%) aren't sure.

Democrats, by a 57% to 19% margin, say the Nobel prize is the most prestigious award a person can win. Republicans and unaffiliateds are evenly divided on the question.

Little changed is the perception that the Nobel Prizes for Medicine and Peace are the most prestigious of the individual awards presented each year. Thirty-two percent (32%) rate the award for medicine as the most prestigious, followed by 27% who say the same of the Peace Prize. A year ago, the two were tied at 29% support each.

Ten percent (10%) say the Nobel Prize for Economics is number one, followed by the awards for Physics (9%), Chemistry (3%) and Literature (2%). Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided which is the most prestigious. These findings are virtually identical to those of a year ago.

The president's win appears to have dramatically increased awareness of the awards. Fifty-three percent (53%) of Americans followed news reports about the Nobel Prize winners at least somewhat closely each year. Last year, only 38% paid that much attention.

However, only 27% of adults say they are more likely to read a book written by a Nobel Prize-winning author. Still, that's up seven points from the findings in October of last year. Sixty percent (60%) say they are not more likely to read a book by the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, down from 64% in the previous survey. Thirteen percent (13%) are not sure.

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