Cultural Cognition of the Risks and Benefits of Nanotechnology

Authors: Donald Braman, Dan M. Kahan, Paul Slovic, John Gastil, Geoffrey L. Cohen - GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works 2009 cited by 509

We conducted an experimental public opinion study of the effect of balanced information on nanotechnology risk-benefit perceptions. The study found that subjects did not react in a uniform, much less a uniformly positive manner, but rather polarized along lines consistent with cultural predispositions toward technological risk generally.