TY - JOUR
T1 - Cultural cognition of the risks and benefits of nanotechnology
AU - Kahan, Dan M.
AU - Braman, Donald
AU - Slovic, Paul
AU - Gastil, John
AU - Cohen, Geoffrey
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (SES 0621840), the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, and the Oscar Ruebhausen Fund at Yale Law School. We thank E. Peters for advice on the study design, and R. MacCoun for valuable comments on earlier drafts.
PY - 2009/2
Y1 - 2009/2
N2 - How is public opinion towards nanotechnology likely to evolve? The 'familiarity hypothesis' holds that support for nanotechnology will likely grow as awareness of it expands. The basis of this conjecture is opinion polling, which finds that few members of the public claim to know much about nanotechnology, but that those who say they do are substantially more likely to believe its benefits outweigh its risks. Some researchers, however, have avoided endorsing the familiarity hypothesis, stressing that cognitive heuristics and biases could create anxiety as the public learns more about this novel science. We conducted an experimental study aimed at determining how members of the public would react to balanced information about nanotechnology risks and benefits. Finding no support for the familiarity hypothesis, the study instead yielded strong evidence that public attitudes are likely to be shaped by psychological dynamics associated with cultural cognition.
AB - How is public opinion towards nanotechnology likely to evolve? The 'familiarity hypothesis' holds that support for nanotechnology will likely grow as awareness of it expands. The basis of this conjecture is opinion polling, which finds that few members of the public claim to know much about nanotechnology, but that those who say they do are substantially more likely to believe its benefits outweigh its risks. Some researchers, however, have avoided endorsing the familiarity hypothesis, stressing that cognitive heuristics and biases could create anxiety as the public learns more about this novel science. We conducted an experimental study aimed at determining how members of the public would react to balanced information about nanotechnology risks and benefits. Finding no support for the familiarity hypothesis, the study instead yielded strong evidence that public attitudes are likely to be shaped by psychological dynamics associated with cultural cognition.
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U2 - 10.1038/nnano.2008.341
DO - 10.1038/nnano.2008.341
M3 - Article
C2 - 19197308
AN - SCOPUS:59849101074
SN - 1748-3387
VL - 4
SP - 87
EP - 90
JO - Nature nanotechnology
JF - Nature nanotechnology
IS - 2
ER -