Rex H. Warland

Social Movement Involvement in the Wake of a Nuclear Accident: Activists and Free Riders in the TMI Area

Focusing on the community mobilization processes following the Three Mile Island (TMI) accident, this paper presents the first empirical tests of central hypotheses derivedfrom Olson (1965) involving both activists andfree riders in a natural setting. Focusing initially on a randomly selected sample of free riders from the TMI area, we first investigate the extent of, and reasons for, this phenomenon. Free riding in an actual mobilization process is revealed to be more widespread than Olsons critics suggest, and also more complex than Olson alleged. We then compare the most politically active citizens in the TMI area with the free riders on solidarity, ideology, grievance, and other dimensions in an attempt to discern the most important correlates of social movement involvement. The paper concludes with a model which synthesizes the resource mobilization and alternative perspectives.

Backyards, NIMBYs, and Incinerator Sitings: Implications for Social Movement Theory

Arguing for the usefulness of an analytic distinction between equity and technology movements, this paper examines two siting disputes involving modern incinerators and asks why one was eventually built and the other defeated. Relevant variables for the analysis are identified from the contemporary social movement literature and a special industry report. After an initial focus on surveys of “backyard” residents and “NIMBYs” at the two proposed sites, an explanation of the different outcomes is proposed. Additional micro-, meso-, and macrolevel variables are discussed, suggesting that technology movements are especially influenced by an interaction of factors which figure less prominently in equity movements.

Determinants of Food Safety Risks: A Multi-disciplinary Approach.

This research employs a multi-disciplinary approach by developing a model that draws upon psychometric, cultural, and reflexive modernization perspectives of risk perception. Using data from a 1999 national telephone survey, we tested our model on three food risks— pesticides, Salmonella, and fat. Results showed that perceptions of risks do vary by the nature of the risk investigated. Consistent with the psychometric perspective, the level of knowledge and control varied by risk, but these differences did not correspond with levels of concern. Worldview variables were correlated with perceptions of pesticides, indicating the relevance of cultural approaches. High levels of concern associated with each food risk, and the robustness of the relationship between trust and the perception of food risks, raise the possibility that trust acts as a coping mechanism, which is consistent with the reflexive modernization approach. Knowledge and trust were significantly related to all three risks.

Who reacts to food safety scares?: Examining the Alar crisis

The 1989 Alar crisis developed in the wake of television news reports on the dangers to children from consuming apples treated with Alar. These hazards received extensive media coverage over the following five months. This study investigated public reaction to the crisis. Awareness of the crisis was more common among older adults, those with more formal education, and those who reported more frequent television news viewing. Those who were aware of the crisis and reduced their use of apples and apple products had a different set of characteristics. Reduced use was more common among females, those 50 and under, and non-Whites. Reductions were not, however, more common among those who reported frequent television news viewing.

Rotter's social learning theory of personality and dietary behavior

Abstract This article presents the findings of a recent exploratory study on food behavior in which a modified version of Rotters Social Learning Theory of Personality (SLT) was used. Data for the study scale were obtained by a national telephone survey for 432 food preparers. Using the three independent variables specified by the modified social learning theory of personality of J.B. Rotter— locus of control, reinforcement values, social context —as predictors, 21% of the variation in reported nutritious food behavior was explained. The results show that those who believe they are in control of their destinies (internally-controlled) score higher on reported nutritious food behavior than do those who believe outcomes are due to outside forces (externally-controlled). Similarly, differences exist among reinforcement values groups and among social context categories. The findings may offer ideas for identifying target groups and tailoring educational programs to meet each groups specific needs.

AGE AND LOCUS OF CONTROL AMONG WOMEN FOOD PREPARERS

While it is theoretically plausible that locus of control and age are related, findings reported in the literature remain inconclusive. We suggest that the inconsistent results may be effects of differences in locus of control scale instruments used. For instance, will scales assuming multidimensionality of locus of control yield different results from scales assuming unidimensionality of the construct? Similarly, will scales that consist of general items produce results different from those scales that are research topic specific? Findings of two studies are reported. Both used locus of control scales specific to beliefs about food and health, but one was unidimensional, the other two-dimensional. Respondents in the two national telephone surveys were 406 and 461 women. The unidimensional scale produced a negative, linear relationship between age and locus of control: older women were more external than were younger women. In contrast, both dimensions of the two-dimensional scale formed quadratic relationships with age. The internal dimension showed internal beliefs increasing until age 60, then decreasing The relation between age and belief in powerful others/fate weakened until about age 50, then strengthened again. The latter findings suggest that, particularly in late middle age and on matters concerning food and health, internal and external beliefs are neither mutually exclusive nor necessarily inconsistent.

Assessing Dietary Concerns: Do the Conventional Questions Adequately Measure Concern?

Abstract Dietary surveys of consumers frequently ask “How concerned are you about…?” when assessing food-related concerns. This conventional question form involves an assumption that respondents are concerned, or seems to suggest that they should be. Such questions also assume that the concerns expressed are based on relevant knowledge. One approach to overcoming the assumption of concern is to ask an initial filter question about whether the respondent is concerned. Those who express concern then can be asked how concerned they are. A filter question also can be used to determine respondents’ knowledge in order to deal with the assumption of awareness or knowledge. For this study, a national sample of respondents was randomly assigned to groups that were given alternative question forms. Their response patterns then were compared. One group was given the conventional question form asking how concerned they were about the amount of fat in the food they eat. A second group was given an initial question asking if they were concerned (concern filter); those who expressed concern then were asked their level of concern. A third group was given an initial question asking if they were aware of health problems caused by the amount of fat in the food they ate (awareness filter). Those who indicated they were aware were asked how concerned they were about their fat intake. Those given the conventional question form expressed significantly higher levels of concern than did those given the concern filter form or the awareness filter form. The comparison of the results for the first and second groups indicates that the conventional question form with its assumption of concern may encourage the overstatement of concerns. A comparison of the results for the first and third groups indicates that more respondents will indicate their lack of knowledge when asked a direct question with the awareness filter form than will volunteer such information with the conventional question form.

The effect of legalization and public funding of abortion on neonatal mortality: An intervention analysis

This paper examines the impact of the legalization of abortion on neonatal mortality in the United States. Monthly time series data are used to estimate intervention models separately for the U.S. as a whole and for the States of New York and South Carolina. Legalization of abortion in 1973 is found to have no discernible impact on national neonatal mortality rates. However, results from New York and South Carolina, states in which accessibility and public funding of abortion differed markedly, suggest that abortion is significantly related to declines in neonatal mortality, particularly among nonwhites. The magnitude and timing of such impacts varied between races and states.