Marie-Eve Cousin
Laypeople’s and experts’ risk perception of mobile communication in Switzerland
Authors
Marie-Eve Cousin (University of Zurich)
Michael Siegrist (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich)
Laypeople are often unwilling to accept base stations in their neighborhoods because they fear health consequences. To prevent health effects, the government strictly regulates mobile phone networks. Nevertheless, people distrust these measures and call for the banning of base stations outside their villages. One key question arises: Why does the risk perception of laypeople differ from that of responsible experts?
Only few studies provide insight into risk perception of base stations and the assumed negative health effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF). To fill this knowledge gap, we used the ‘Mental Model Approach’ to show how lay mental models differ from those of experts. Focusing on these qualitative aspects opens a pathway to the improvement of communication between laypeople and experts. The methodology included three steps: First, an expert model reflecting experts’ understanding of EMF was created by means of a literature review and open-ended interviews with 15 experts. This model was used as the basis for semi-structured interviews with 33 laypeople, which were evaluated in a second step. In a third step, the prevalence among Swiss citizens (N = 745) of the different beliefs about EMF identified in the interviews was determined. Survey results demonstrate that the approach was able to identify the structure of the problem field and detect relevant knowledge gaps concerning base station construction. The gained insights will support future risk communication.
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Martin W Bauer
Representing biotechnology in public: it is happening and people are doing it
Authors
Martin W Bauer (London School of Economics (UK))
The social psychological theory of representation is a very useful starting point to analyse the arrival of new technology, or new capacities and knowledge in general, in public conversations. Social representations primarily highlights the relative autonomy of public opinion, which makes it an interesting, and for some counter-intuitive theory. The theory also highlights the creative and unpredictable aspect of any transition of knowledge from the production laboratory to the private living rooms and public streets, and the ballot box for that matter. However, representations have a double character as 'happenings or events' as well as 'strategic activities', and in the context of modern science communication or public relations, increasingly so. I will illustrate, on the example of long-term trends in public opinion of biotechnology, how this double character of 'representation' might have implications for the understanding of the dynamic and significance of social representations, and of science communication.
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Thierry Bornand
Avian flu and regulation of intergroup relations
Authors
Thierry Bornand (University of Lausanne)
Eva Green (University of Lausanne)
Alain Clémence (University of Lausanne)
Adrian Bangerter (University of Neuchâtel)
Franciska Krings (University of Lausanne)
Christian Staerklé (University of Geneva)
Pascal Wagner (University of Fribourg)
In the present study, we investigated to what extent fear about a pandemic (avian flu) accounts for xenophobic attitudes. Historical literature and social representations research have shown that other ethnic groups have often been associated with disease that could contaminate the ingroup. This association can lead people to inappropriate behavior such as underestimating the risk for themselves and/or discriminating outgroups. Recently, studies in evolutionary psychology have shown that perceived vulnerability to disease, measured as a dispositional variable or experimentally induced, predicted negative reactions to members of foreign populations. Based on these findings a survey about avian flu was carried out among French-speaking Swiss students in December 2005 (N=520). Results revealed that perceived personal vulnerability and threat predicted considering avoidance of foreigners an efficient way to protect oneself from the disease. Results also show that avoiding foreigners is positively correlated with other types of protection such as avoiding interpersonal contact. These findings suggest that in the case of a pandemic it may be important to take into account intergroup phenomena in public health campaigns.
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Eva G.T. Green
Discovery of the faithfulness gene: a model of transmission and transformation of scientific information
Authors
Eva G.T. Green (University of Lausanne)
Alain Clémence (University of Lausanne)
The aim of this talk is to study the diffusion and transformation of scientific information in everyday discussions from a social psychological perspective. Bridging rumour research models and social representations theory, three studies were conducted to investigate the role of position in a communication chain and the impact of attitudes towards genetics on transmission of a scientific discovery. A communication chain was experimentally simulated to study the language people use to account for a genetic discovery first published in a scientific outlet, then reported in a mainstream newspaper and finally discussed by laypeople. Study 1 (N = 40) demonstrated a reduction of scientific information, especially the use of expert terms, as a function of manipulated distance in the communication chain. A simplified figurative meaning of the message was progressively formed. The original scientific message about the discovery of the impact of vasopressin on the sociability of voles was crystallised into a faithfulness gene. Study 2 (N = 70) revealed that the transmission of the message varied as a function of pre-existing attitudes towards genetics (pro- vs. anti-genetics). Pro-genetics retained more scientific information than anti-genetics. Study 3 (N = 75) showed that endorsement of genetic explanations was related to descriptive accounts of the scientific message, whereas rejection of genetic explanations was linked to evaluative accounts of the message.
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