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Revisiting Public Debate on Genetic Modification and Genetically Modified Organisms. Explanations for contemporary Dutch public attitudes

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Anne Dijkstra, Professor Lynn FrewerORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).

Abstract

Genetic Modification (GM) has been a topic of public debates during the 1990s and 2000s. In this paper we explore the relative importance of two hypothesized explanations for these controversies: (i) people’s general attitude toward science and technology and (ii) their trust in governance, in GM actors, and in GM regulations, in explaining the Dutch public’s Attitude toward GM applications, and in addition to that, the public’s GM Information seeking behaviour. This will be conducted through the application of representative survey methodologies. The results indicate that Attitudes toward GM applications are best predicted by both the attitude toward science and technology and three trust measures. GM information seeking is predicted by gender and educational level, as well as attitude toward science and technology, trust in organisations and trust in regulations (negative). Overall, psychological variables seem better predictors than demographics. Implications for future research on information seeking behaviour are discussed.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Hanssen L, Dijkstra AM, Sleenhoff S, Frewer LJ, Gutteling JM

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Science Communication

Year: 2018

Volume: 17

Issue: 4

Online publication date: 01/10/2018

Acceptance date: 23/08/2018

Date deposited: 31/08/2018

ISSN (electronic): 1824-2049

Publisher: International School of Advanced Studies

URL: https://doi.org/10.22323/2.17040201

DOI: 10.22323/2.17040201

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