Distinguishing scientific knowledge: The impact of different measures of knowledge on genetically modified food attitudes

Testing the cultural-invariance hypothesis: A global analysis of the relationship between scientific knowledge and attitudes to science

A substantial body of research has demonstrated that science knowledge is correlated with attitudes towards science, with most studies finding a positive relationship between the two constructs; people who are more knowledgeable about science tend to be more positive about it. However, this evidence base has been almost exclusively confined to high and middle-income democracies, with poorer and less developed nations excluded from consideration. In this study, we conduct the first global investigation of the science knowledge-attitude relationship, using the 2018 Wellcome Global Monitor survey. Our results show a positive knowledge-attitude correlation in all but one of the 144 countries investigated. This robust cross-national relationship is consistent across both science literacy and self-assessed measures of science knowledge.

Consumer Attitude towards Genetically Modified Foods in Iran: Application of Three-Dimensional Model of Corporate Social Responsibility

Although GM food production is considered an important strategy to meet the growing food needs of the population around the world, a majority of the GM food consumers express doubts about purchasing and eating them. However, it can be argued that consumers have different opinions about GM foods and their influence on human health and the natural environment. GM food producer Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) may significantly affect such opinions, but the effect of this variable has been partially neglected in previous research studies. To address this gap, the present study investigates Iranian consumers' concerns about GM foods, trust in these products, and perception of GM food producer CSR as determinants of attitudes towards GM food. Data were collected from Iranian consumers. A cross-sectional survey research with a multi-stage random sampling approach was employed to capture the responses of 372 Iranian consumers. The results showed that consumers have both negative and positive attitudes towards GM foods. Perceived social equity, trust, and health concerns were the most important determinants of attitude towards GM foods. According to the results, these variables could account for 52.9% (Cox and Snell R²) and up to 70.6% (Nagelkerke R²) of the variance of the dependent variable. Furthermore, results revealed statistically significant differences among the consumers with different educational levels in terms of perceived social equity, perceived environmental responsibility, and environmental concern. The research contributes to the body of knowledge in GM food consumption by evolving the CSR to assess attitudes of users concerning GM foods.

Should Gene Editing Be Used to Develop Crops for Continuous-Living-Cover Agriculture? A Multi-Sector Stakeholder Assessment Using a Cooperative Governance Approach

Continuous-living-cover (CLC) agriculture integrates multiple crops to create diversified agroecosystems in which soils are covered by living plants across time and space continuously. CLC agriculture can greatly improve production of many different ecosystem services from agroecosystems, including climate adaptation and mitigation. To go to scale, CLC agriculture requires crops that not only provide continuous living cover but are viable in economic and social terms. At present, lack of such viable crops is strongly limiting the scaling of CLC agriculture. Gene editing (GE) might provide a powerful tool for developing the crops needed to expand CLC agriculture to scale. To assess this possibility, a broad multi-sector deliberative group considered the merits of GE—relative to alternative plant-breeding methods—as means for improving crops for CLC agriculture. The group included many of the sectors whose support is necessary to scaling agricultural innovations, including actors involved in markets, finance, policy, and R&D. In this article, we report findings from interviews and deliberative workshops. Many in the group were enthusiastic about prospects for applications of GE to develop crops for CLC agriculture, relative to alternative plant-breeding options. However, the group noted many issues, risks, and contingencies, all of which are likely to require responsive and adaptive management. Conversely, if these issues, risks, and contingencies cannot be managed, it appears unlikely that a strong multi-sector base of support can be sustained for such applications, limiting their scaling. Emerging methods for responsible innovation and scaling have potential to manage these issues, risks, and contingencies; we propose that outcomes from GE crops for CLC agriculture are likely to be much improved if these emerging methods are used to govern such projects. However, both GE of CLC crops and responsible innovation and scaling are unrefined innovations. Therefore, we suggest that the best pathway for exploring GE of CLC crops is to intentionally couple implementation and refinement of both kinds of innovations. More broadly, we argue that such pilot projects are urgently needed to navigate intensifying grand challenges around food and agriculture, which are likely to create intense pressures to develop genetically-engineered agricultural products and equally intense social conflict.

Exploring the relationships of citizens' scientific interest and self-understanding to their learning enjoyment and self-efficacy in science

The aim of this study was to explore whether citizens' scientific interest and self-understanding relate to their learning enjoyment and self-efficacy in science. The sample participants consisted of 1,657 Taiwanese citizens ranging from 18 to 70 years of age. All participants were asked to complete the 2018 "Taiwan Citizens Science and Technology Literacy Survey" to assess their scientific interest, scientific self-understanding, science learning enjoyment, and scientific self-efficacy. Multiple regression models were used to analyze the data. The important findings included: (1) scientific interest was the most important predictor of science learning enjoyment, while scientific self-understanding was the most important predictor of scientific self-efficacy; and (2) the effects of scientific interest on self-understanding and the effect of science learning enjoyment on scientific self-efficacy each were significantly moderated by respondents' age, with stronger relationships observed in younger citizens than older citizens. This study provides insight into Taiwanese citizens' scientific learning enjoyment and self-efficacy and also informs potential governmental policies and/or societal practices that could be considered to promote scientific literacy.

Marketing Clues on the Label Raise the Purchase Intention of Genetically Modified Food

As more and more genetically modified foods (GMFs) must be labeled, adding more information to increase the willingness to buy genetically modified food has become the focus of scholars and enterprises. Most current studies have confirmed that the consumer attitudes and purchase intention toward GMFs are not good. This study aims to match consumers’ different information-processing mechanisms by adding marketing information clues and regulating their purchase intentions by contradictory attitudes towards GMFs. According to the interest demands of GMFs, the marketing clue information was divided into functional information and environmental information. Through two studies, we find that consumers are more inclined to environmental information than heuristic. Functional information is more attractive to males, and the young generation prefers ecological information. Consumers with high ambivalence towards genetically modified foods are more inclined to choose environmental attribute information.

The state of GMOs on social media An analysis of state-level variables and discourse on Twitter in the United States

This study analyzes the relationship between state-level variables and Twitter discourse on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Using geographically identified tweets related to GMOs, we examined how the sentiments expressed about GMOs related to education levels, news coverage, proportion of rural and urban counties, state-level political ideology, amount of GMO-related legislation introduced, and agricultural dependence of each U.S. state. State-level characteristics predominantly did not predict the sentiment of the discourse. Instead, the topics of tweets predicted the majority of variance in tweet sentiment at the state level. The topics that tweets within a state focused on were related to state-level characteristics in some cases.

Effects of knowledge and emotion on support for novel synthetic biology applications

There is sometimes an inherent assumption that the logical head will overrule the emotional heart in matters of science and technology. However, the literature on decision making under risk and uncertainty suggests that emotional responses may be more potent. A representative sample of Australians participated in a large, national, online survey (n = 8037), in which we measured the influence of knowledge and emotion in predicting support for possible synthetic biology (synbio) solutions to conservation, environmental, and industrial problems. A hierarchical regression model was used to examine the relative influence of affect- and emotion-related factors beyond the influence of knowledge factors in predicting support for synbio solutions. Subsequently, interaction analyses were conducted to examine the potentially moderating role of emotions in the knowledge-support relationship. There was 64% variance in overall support for synbio solutions (R² = 0.64, p < 0.001). The most influential predictor of support in the model was positive emotion. Feeling hopeful, excited, and curious toward a synbio technology was related to greater overall support for the development of that technology. The second strongest set of predictors was affect-related measures that evaluate the technology as bad or good, harmful or beneficial, and risky or safe. Positive emotion and an assessment that the technology was good significantly moderated the effect of knowledge on support. These findings suggest that, at least initially, people are more likely to be guided by their emotions when considering support for synbio technologies, which has implications for how researchers design and implement engagement and communication strategies more broadly.

The role of citizen science in management of invasive avian species: What people think, know, and do

In North America, nest site competition from invasive cavity-nesting birds can limit the opportunities for successful nesting by native birds. Managing invasive species is costly and complex, requiring input from biologists, decision makers, and the public. An informed and engaged public can play an important role in mitigating the negative effects of invasive avian species. However, little is known regarding the publics' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors toward non-native bird species. We examined the association between participating in a citizen science project and enjoyment, knowledge, and management of two non-native avian species in North America: European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and house sparrows (Passer domesticus). We administered a pre and post survey to 947 people who monitor nest boxes in the United States and Canada, 30% of whom were also reporting their observations to NestWatch, a citizen science project focused on nesting birds. We found that NestWatch participants were more likely to have negative views of non-native species, score higher on bird identification tasks, and manage for invasive species than non-participants. The most important predictor for undertaking management activities was respondents' perceptions of whether they believed non-native birds to be a problem at the continental scale, underscoring the important role of individual factors such as perception. Our study also highlights the important role citizen science may play in shaping attitudes and behaviors and increasing knowledge. We propose a conceptual model describing the mechanisms by which citizen science can be leveraged for management of invasive species.

The Use of Social Networking Sites and Pro-Environmental Behaviors: A Mediation and Moderation Model

Climate change poses a huge threat. Social networking sites (SNSs) have become sources of human-environment interactions and shaped the societal perception of climate change and its effect on society. This study, based on the extended parallel process model, aims to examine the effect of exposure to climate change-related information on SNSs on the pro-environmental behaviors of individuals. The study examines the mediation effect of fear of victimization from climate change between the exposure to climate change-related information on SNSs and pro-environmental behaviors, including the moderation effect of attention deficit and decision-making self-efficacy with the help of appropriate instruments. A total sample of 406 reliable questionnaires were collected from students using SNSs in China, and data were analyzed through SPSS and AMOS. Results indicate that the exposure to climate change-related information on SNSs has a direct positive effect on users' pro-environmental behaviors (β = 0.299, p < 0.01). Fear of victimization from climate change also mediates the relationship between exposure to climate change-related information on SNSs and pro-environmental behaviors (β = 0.149, SE = 0.029, p < 0.01). In addition, attention deficit moderates the relationship of exposure to climate change-related information on SNSs with fear of victimization from climate change (β = -0.090, p ≤ 0.01) and pro-environmental behaviors (β = -0.090, p ≤ 0.05). Similarly, the relationship between fear of victimization from climate change and pro-environmental behaviors is moderated by decision-making self-efficacy (β = 0.267, p ≤ 0.01). The findings offer implications for media organizations and government policy makers, who should post or spread environmental information through the most trustworthy media, with trustworthy sources, in an effective manner, and without exaggerated adverse impacts.

Factors Affecting Social Media Users' Emotions Regarding Food Safety Issues: Content Analysis of a Debate among Chinese Weibo Users on Genetically Modified Food Security

Social media is gradually building an online information environment regarding health. This environment is filled with many types of users' emotions regarding food safety, especially negative emotions that can easily cause panic or anger among the population. However, the mechanisms of how it affects users' emotions have not been fully studied. Therefore, from the perspective of communication and social psychology, this study uses the content analysis method to analyze factors affecting social media users' emotions regarding food safety issues. In total, 371 tweet samples of genetically modified food security in Sina Weibo (similar to Twitter) were encoded, measured, and analyzed. The major findings are as follows: (1) Tweet account type, tweet topic, and emotion object were all significantly related to emotion type. Tweet depth and objectivity were both positively affected by emotion type, and objectivity had a greater impact. (2) Account type, tweet topic, and emotion object were all significantly related to emotion intensity. When the depths were the same, emotion intensity became stronger with the decrease in objectivity. (3) Account type, tweet topic, emotion object, and emotion type were all significantly related to a user's emotion communication capacity. Tweet depth, objectivity, and user's emotion intensity were positively correlated with emotion communication capacity. Positive emotions had stronger communication capacities than negative ones, which is not consistent with previous studies. These findings help us to understand both theoretically and practically the changes and dissemination of user's emotions in a food safety and health information environment.

Swedish consumers´ attitudes and values to genetic modification and conventional plant breeding - The case of fruit and vegetables

This study examined public attitudes to genetic modification (GM) and conventional plant breeding and explored general differences in attitudes to these two types of breeding concepts, including the effect of individual personal characteristics such as gender and age. It also sought to identify the influence of personal values linked to attitudes to GM crops and conventional plant breeding, following Schwartz value theory. Relations between specific values and attitudes to GM organisms (GMOs) have been studied previously, but not gender- and age-specific relations between specific values and attitudes to conventional plant breeding. Data were collected in this study using a questionnaire completed on-line by 1500 Swedish consumers in 2019. The questionnaire covered three different aspects: 1) sociodemographic data, including gender and age; 2) attitudes to GMO/conventional plant breeding; and 3) values, measured using the human values scale. It was found that consumers expressed more positive attitudes to conventional plant breeding than to GMO, men expressed more positive attitudes to both conventional plant breeding and GMO than women did, and younger consumers expressed more positive attitudes to GMO than older consumers did. A negative correlation between attitudes to conventional plant breeding and the value ‘tradition’, but no correlation to ‘universalism’, ‘benevolence’, ‘power’ or ‘achievement’, was identified for men. For women, correlations between attitudes to conventional plant breeding and ‘benevolence’ (neg.) and ‘achievement’ (pos.) were found. For both men and women, attitudes to GMO were negatively influenced by ‘universalism’ and ‘benevolence’, and positively influenced by ‘power’ and ‘achievement’. The implications of these results are discussed.

Deference and decision-making in science and society: How deference to scientific authority goes beyond confidence in science and scientists to become authoritarianism

Deference to scientific authority theoretically captures the belief that scientists and not publics should make decisions on science in society. Few studies examine deference, however, and none test this central theoretical claim. The result is deference is often conflated with concepts such as trust in scientists and belief in the authority of science. This study examines two claims key to conceptualizing deference: that deference (1) predicts anti-democratic views of decision-making and (2) relates to but is distinct from beliefs of science as authoritative knowledge. Analyzing US nationally representative data, we find deference to scientific authority does predict anti-democratic views, and this is its distinct conceptual value: trust in scientists and belief in science as authoritative knowledge strongly relate to deference, but both predict pro-democratic views, unlike deference. We discuss how these findings highlight deference as vital for understanding perceptions of science and societal decision-making and how we can better develop the concept.

Examining Personal and Media Factors Associated with Attitude towards Genetically Modified Foods among University Students in Kunming, China

Guided by the theory of reasoned action and media system dependency theory, this study examined attitude towards genetically modified foods (GMF) among university students in Kunming, China, as well as personal and media factors related to such attitude. Data were collected from an online survey with 467 university students across eight universities in Kunming. Results showed that attitude towards GMF were more negative than positive. Moreover, food neophobia and media attention were negatively associated with attitude towards GMF. In contrast, perceived benefit was positively associated with attitude towards GMF. Although the interaction between media dependency and media attention was significant, simple slope analysis confirmed that the interaction slopes were nonsignificant, suggesting that media attention did not moderate the association between media dependency and attitude towards GMF in this study. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.