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Public Attitudes toward Emerging Technologies

Examining the Interactive Effects of Cognitions and Affect on Public Attitudes toward Nanotechnology

University of Pennsylvania

Dietram A. Scheufele

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Bruce V. Lewenstein

Cornell University

Previous studies on public attitudes toward emerging technologies have treated cognitive and affective influences on public opinion as distinct, with little attention to the possible interaction between the two. Directly addressing this issue, we argue that cognitive and affective factors not only have important separate effects on public attitudes but also work in tandem to produce effects. In particular, it may be that affective variables shape the impact of cognitions and vice versa. We use data from a national telephone survey to test this interactive model of decision making about emerging technologies. Our analyses show that emotional heuristics moderate the effect that knowledge about nanotechnology has on people's overall attitudes toward nanotechnology, with knowledge having a weaker effect on attitudes for people who do show strong emotional reactions to the topic. The implications of these findings for future research and policy making in this area are discussed.

Key Words: public understanding of science • cognition • affect • nanotechnology • scientific issues • interactive effects

Science Communication, Vol. 27, No. 2, 240-267 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1075547005281474


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