TY - JOUR
T1 - Making sense of policy choices
T2 - Understanding the roles of value predispositions, mass media, and cognitive processing in public attitudes toward nanotechnology
AU - Ho, Shirley S.
AU - Scheufele, Dietram A.
AU - Corley, Elizabeth
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [grant number SES-0531194]. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
PY - 2010/10
Y1 - 2010/10
N2 - Using a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,015 adults in the United States, this study examines how value predispositions, communication variables, and perceptions of risks and benefits are associated with public support for federal funding of nanotechnology. Our findings show that highly religious individuals were less supportive of funding of nanotech than less religious individuals, whereas individuals who held a high deference for scientific authority were more supportive of funding of the emerging technology than those low in deference. Mass media use and elaborative processing of scientific news were positively associated with public support for funding, whereas factual scientific knowledge had no significant association with policy choices. The findings suggest that thinking about and reflecting upon scientific news promote better understanding of the scientific world and may provide a more sophisticated cognitive structure for the public to form opinions about nanotech than factual scientific knowledge. Finally, heuristic cues including trust in scientists and perceived risks and benefits of nanotech were found to be associated with public support for nanotech funding. We conclude with policy implications that will be useful for policymakers and science communication practitioners.
AB - Using a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,015 adults in the United States, this study examines how value predispositions, communication variables, and perceptions of risks and benefits are associated with public support for federal funding of nanotechnology. Our findings show that highly religious individuals were less supportive of funding of nanotech than less religious individuals, whereas individuals who held a high deference for scientific authority were more supportive of funding of the emerging technology than those low in deference. Mass media use and elaborative processing of scientific news were positively associated with public support for funding, whereas factual scientific knowledge had no significant association with policy choices. The findings suggest that thinking about and reflecting upon scientific news promote better understanding of the scientific world and may provide a more sophisticated cognitive structure for the public to form opinions about nanotech than factual scientific knowledge. Finally, heuristic cues including trust in scientists and perceived risks and benefits of nanotech were found to be associated with public support for nanotech funding. We conclude with policy implications that will be useful for policymakers and science communication practitioners.
KW - ELSI
KW - Elaborative processing
KW - Interpersonal discussion
KW - Mass media
KW - Nanotechnology
KW - Risk
KW - Societal implications
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U2 - 10.1007/s11051-010-0038-8
DO - 10.1007/s11051-010-0038-8
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:78649906263
SN - 1388-0764
VL - 12
SP - 2703
EP - 2715
JO - Journal of Nanoparticle Research
JF - Journal of Nanoparticle Research
IS - 8
ER -