Extreme opponents of genetically modified foods know the least but think they know the most

Philip M. Fernbach (), Nicholas Light, Sydney E. Scott, Yoel Inbar and Paul Rozin
Additional contact information
Philip M. Fernbach: University of Colorado
Nicholas Light: University of Colorado
Sydney E. Scott: Washington University in St. Louis
Yoel Inbar: University of Toronto
Paul Rozin: University of Pennsylvania

Nature Human Behaviour, 2019, vol. 3, issue 3, 251-256

Abstract: Abstract There is widespread agreement among scientists that genetically modified foods are safe to consume1,2 and have the potential to provide substantial benefits to humankind3. However, many people still harbour concerns about them or oppose their use4,5. In a nationally representative sample of US adults, we find that as extremity of opposition to and concern about genetically modified foods increases, objective knowledge about science and genetics decreases, but perceived understanding of genetically modified foods increases. Extreme opponents know the least, but think they know the most. Moreover, the relationship between self-assessed and objective knowledge shifts from positive to negative at high levels of opposition. Similar results were obtained in a parallel study with representative samples from the United States, France and Germany, and in a study testing attitudes about a medical application of genetic engineering technology (gene therapy). This pattern did not emerge, however, for attitudes and beliefs about climate change.

Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-018-0520-3 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nathum:v:3:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1038_s41562-018-0520-3

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/nathumbehav/

DOI: 10.1038/s41562-018-0520-3

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Human Behaviour is currently edited by Stavroula Kousta

More articles in Nature Human Behaviour from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().