Andrew R. Binder

Public attitudes toward biofuels Effects of knowledge, political partisanship, and media use

Abstract Despite large-scale investments and government mandates to expand biofuels development and infrastructure in the United States, little is known about how the public conceives of this alternative fuel technology. This study examines public opinion of biofuels by focusing on citizen knowledge and the motivated processing of media information. Specifically, we explore the direct effects of biofuels knowledge and the moderating effect of partisanship on the relationship between media use and benefit vs. risk perceptions in the following four domains: environmental impacts, economic consequences, ethical/social implications, and political ramifications. Our results suggest that more knowledgeable respondents see fewer benefits of biofuels relative to risks, and that Democrats and Republicans are affected differently by media use when forming opinions about biofuels. Among Democrats, greater attention to political media content leads to a more favorable outlook toward the technology across several domains of interest, while among Republicans, an increase in attention to political content has the opposite effect. Possible reasons for these results, as well as implications of the findings at the intersection of politics and the life sciences, are discussed.

The Soul of a Polarized Democracy Testing Theoretical Linkages Between Talk and Attitude Extremity During the 2004 Presidential Election

This study explores the relationships between discussion networks and the development of extreme attitudes toward stem cell research during the 2004 presidential election. The authors test competing theoretical models that address discrepancies in previous attitude polarization research—whether interpersonal discussion leads to attitude extremity or extremity leads to discussion, within the deliberating American public. Using data from a nationwide mail panel survey carried out between 2002 and 2005, the authors explore within-wave and between-wave causal paths, revealing patterns difficult to discern in cross-sectional survey or lab experimental designs. Our findings show that political talk plays a substantial role in shaping and polarizing attitudes on stem cell research, with discussion in networks composed of like-minded others leading directly to the development of extreme attitudes.

Measuring risk/benefit perceptions of emerging technologies and their potential impact on communication of public opinion toward science

This study presents a systematic comparison of two alternative measures of citizens’ perceptions of risks and benefits of emerging technologies. By focusing on two specific issues (nanotechnology and biofuels), we derive several insights for the measurement of public views of science. Most importantly, our analyses reveal that relying on global, single-item measures may lead to invalid inferences regarding external influences on public perceptions, particularly those related to cognitive schema and media use. Beyond these methodological implications, this analysis suggests several reasons why researchers in the area of public attitudes toward science must revisit notions of measurement in order to accurately inform the general public, policymakers, scientists, and journalists about trends in public opinion toward emerging technologies.

Celebrity Influence and Identification: A Test of the Angelina Effect

Angelina Jolies announcement that she is a BRCA1 carrier and has had a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy was met with widespread support as well as speculation about its possible impact on the public. These speculations were the subject of a Time magazine cover story titled “The Angelina Effect” (Kluger et al., 2013). Although there is anecdotal evidence to support this hypothesized Angelina effect, empirical tests are lacking. To explore possible links between Angelinas announcement and public health, we surveyed 356 adults immediately after the announcement. Guided by a model of celebrity influence, the survey assessed participants’ demographics and health history, identification and parasocial interaction with Jolie, and genetic testing intentions. Results supported the models predictions and provided preliminary evidence of an Angelina effect.

Routes to attention or shortcuts to apathy? Exploring domain-specific communication pathways and their implications for public perceptions of controversial science.

Recent research in communication has emphasized interpersonal discussion as a potential mediator or moderator of the media effects on audiences. In this study, the author develops a similar model to explore public perceptions of science. In addition to communication variables, this model incorporates the notion of domain-specific pathways as determinants of attitudinal and cognitive outcomes. As a case study, the model is applied to salience of climate change, and the results reveal evidence for the mediation of media effects on salience through interpersonal discussion. Moreover, two domain-specific communication pathways—one focusing on politics and the other on science—have differential impacts on the outcome. These results are discussed in terms of integrating interpersonal communication into existing models of public perceptions of science controversy.

Conflict or caveats? Effects of media portrayals of scientific uncertainty on audience perceptions of new technologies

Research indicates that uncertainty in science news stories affects public assessment of risk and uncertainty. However, the form in which uncertainty is presented may also affect peoples risk and uncertainty assessments. For example, a news story that features an expert discussing both what is known and what is unknown about a topic may convey a different form of scientific uncertainty than a story that features two experts who hold conflicting opinions about the status of scientific knowledge of the topic, even when both stories contain the same information about knowledge and its boundaries. This study focuses on audience uncertainty and risk perceptions regarding the emerging science of nanotechnology by manipulating whether uncertainty in a news story about potential risks is attributed to expert sources in the form of caveats (individual uncertainty) or conflicting viewpoints (collective uncertainty). Results suggest that the type of uncertainty portrayed does not impact audience feelings of uncertainty or risk perceptions directly. Rather, the presentation of the story influences risk perceptions only among those who are highly deferent to scientific authority. Implications for risk communication theory and practice are discussed.

Cellular Automata Modeling Framework for Urban Water Reuse Planning and Management

AbstractWater reuse provides a sustainable approach to balance water supply and demand in urban areas, and reclaimed water can be used for nonpotable applications to reduce demands on freshwater sources. Construction of a secondary network is required to distribute reclaimed water. Implementing water reuse projects on a wider scale is challenged by the need for communitywide public acceptance and adoption, which may be a dynamic and adaptive process. The adoption of new water infrastructure can drive hydraulic conditions in both the reclaimed network and an existing drinking water network. This research develops a dynamic modeling framework using a cellular automata (CA) approach to simulate consumer adoption of reclaimed water. The framework couples the CA model of consumer adoption with water distribution system models of the drinking and reclaimed water systems. Emergent distribution system hydraulic conditions are simulated, and the capacity utilization and system performance are evaluated as consumer...

Understanding Public Opinion of Nanotechnology

A common refrain among scientists, policymakers, academics, and even consumer advocacy groups is that the public is simply too uninformed about, disinterested in, or otherwise afraid of groundbreaking emerging sciences like nanotechnology. Scapegoats for these problems abound, with blame placed alternately on a fickle media culture that emphasizes sensation over substance, the decline of science sections in newspapers, the use of nanotechnology as a narrative device in science fiction stories, or else simply the decline and stagnation of scientific literacy in the USA. But to what extent do these explanations hold up to empirical scrutiny? To what extent do they help us gain a better understanding of opinion formation about nanotechnology as opposed to distracting us from other important questions of public opinion? This chapter tackles these questions by evaluating empirical data on public opinion of nanotechnology from the past decade.

An Empirical Acceptance-Resistance Agent-based Modeling Approach for Simulating the Adoption of Water Reuse

Though water reuse provides a promising and sustainable alternative for urban water supply, wide-scale implementation of water reuse within an existing water infrastructure system is challenged by the need for community-wide public acceptance and adoption. The public has historically perceived recycled water negatively, and, as a consequence, water reuse is typically omitted in the development of municipal water management plans. Consumer’s base acceptance and rejection of new technologies on an intuitive analysis of their risks and benefits, and their perceptions may change over time, based on interactions with other consumers, decision makers, and engineering infrastructure systems. This research creates a modeling framework to simulate the changing perceptions of consumers and their adoption of water reuse. The modeling framework is used to develop understanding about the mechanisms that drive the dynamic evolution of perceptions, which can aid the planning and decision making process for the integration of water reuse within existing water systems. This research develops an acceptance-resistance agent-based model to simulate the adoption and rejection of water reuse based on a “risk publics” framework, which is a theoretical model of how different groups perceive new technologies. The risk publics framework uses the perception of risk and benefits to determine the potential of households to adopt or resist new technology. Consumers are represented as agents, and their behaviors and attributes are developed using survey data of the US population, which measures attitudes, knowledge, and behavioral intentions for recycled water. The data is analyzed to determine empirical relationships among individuals; the presence of social groups; and informational and communicative variables governing individual use of reclaimed water. The variables are encoded in the agent-based modeling framework to simulate the key social mechanisms that impact consumer acceptance of water reuse. The framework couples the acceptance-resistance agent-based model of consumers, an agent-based model of utility management, and water distribution system models of the drinking and reclaimed water systems. The framework will be used to explore the interactions

Tradeoffs in Public Acceptance and Water Savings in Using Reclaimed Water for Irrigation Applications

Water scarcity is a growing concern, due to stresses imposed by climate change, population growth, and urbanization. Reclaimed water is a reliable source that can be produced by treating wastewater and used to supplement non-potable demands. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 128 billion gallons of water are used per day for agricultural irrigation, accounting for roughly 31% of total water usage in the U.S. Reclaimed water is a viable option for irrigation applications; however, the success of reclaimed water programs can be affected by public support. This research develops an approach for assessing water savings and acceptability for irrigation applications of reclaimed water. The potential for using reclaimed water in Wake County, North Carolina, is explored through the use of a modeling framework. Potential water savings are evaluated based on the volume of wastewater produced and irrigation demands. The perceptions of using reclaimed water are compared for diverse irrigation applications using results from a recently conducted national survey. Results demonstrate that acceptability for using reclaimed water to irrigate public parks, athletic fields, and residential lawns is higher than the acceptability of use for irrigating food crops. Tradeoffs between public acceptance and the potential reduction of water stress are explored to provide guidance for Wake County infrastructure planning. The modeling methodology is general and can be applied to determine water reclamation potential at the county-level across the U.S.