On the Utility of Genetically Modified Salmon to Differentiate between Attitudes and Opinions

1. On the Utility of Genetically Modified Salmon to Differentiate between Attitudes and Opinions Dr. Ana Muñoz van den Eynde Research Unit on Scientific Culture - CIEMAT

2. ATTITUDES AND OPINIONS: THE PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Model of Three Components of Attitudes Eagly and Chaiken (1993) – The Psychology of Attitudes: Attitude is a state internal to the person that is expressed by evaluating an object with some degree of favor or disfavor. There is no attitude until the individual responds to an object evaluating it and showing an affective, cognitive or behavioral response. Observable Inferred Observable Cognitive response Stimuli that denote attitude object Attitude Affective response Behavioral response

3. Unidimensional Models of Attitudes Thurstone (1931) – The Measurement of Social Attitudes: Attitude is the amount of positive or negative affect toward an attitude object Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) – Beliefs, attitude, intention, and behavior: an introduction to theory and research Attitudes are the amount of positive or negative affect toward an attitude object. Beliefs (opinions) are the “bricks” of the conceptual structure and determine the attitude a person forms about an object. Behavior Stimuli Cognition Attitude Intention

4. ATTITUDES: MEASUREMENT Thurstone Scale: A list of several positive and negative statements Judges rank the statements Respondents choose the ones they agree Statistical analysis

5. Bipolar scales Semantic Differential Scale

6. ATTITUDES: THE PERSPECTIVE OF SURVEY METHODOLOGY

7. MEASURING ATTITUDES BY AGREEMENT / DISAGREEMENT SCALES COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF SURVEY METHODOLOGY Tasks for respondents: What the researcher wants to know? What I know about the subject? What I think about the subject? Cognitive burden: Satisficing Subjectivity Contextual effects…

8. ATTITUDES AS EMOTIONS WITHOUT THE INTERVENTION OF COGNITION Zajonc (1980) – Feeling and Thinking: Preferences Need No Inferences: Affect and cognition are under the control of separate and independent systems that constitute independent sources of effects in information processing. Antonio Damasio (1994) - Descartes’ Error. Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain: Feeling is an integral component of the machinery of reason. The strategies of human reason probably would not develop without the guiding force of the mechanisms of biological regulation, of which emotion and feeling are notable expressions. Stanovich & West (2000) - Individual differences in reasoning. Implications for the rationality debate?: Two systems of cognitive processing: System 1 – fast and associative; System 2: slow and controlled Kahneman (2011) - Thinking, fast and slow: We perceive ourselves as permanently and consistently relying on System 2. But normally our cognitive processing is under the control of System 1.

9. DATA: PIKA SURVEY A convenience sample of 1,574 Spanish people interested in and knowledgeable about science. Question 5a: Recently, the first genetically modified animal has been authorized for human consumption: the US has given the green light to a genetically modified salmon that grows at twice the speed. What would you do if you find this salmon in the fishmonger's? 0. I do not have an opinion about this issue I certainly would not buy it. I cannot stand the idea of eating a genetically modified animal I think I would not buy it. I do not like the idea of eating a genetically modified animal I think I would buy it. I do not see any problem in eating a genetically modified animal I certainly would buy it. I do not mind eating a genetically modified animal Question 5b: Do you think you need more information to make the decision? 0. I do not need more information to make this decision I think having more information could help me make this decision, but it is not essential Yes, undoubtedly, I need more information to make this decision

10. Question 18: Do you think you need appropriate information to reject scientific and technological developments associated with risks for human beings as, for example, genetically modified organisms or nuclear energy? 1. I do not need that information to make a decision 2. I would need that information, but I do not know how to look for it 3. Having that information would be useful, but it is not essential to make a decision 4. I need that information to make a decision

11. RESULTS: BARPLOTS Q5A, Q5B AND Q18

12. RESULTS: GENETICALLY MODIFIED SALMON vs. ATTITUDE AND NEED OF INFORMATION X-squared = 489.41, df = 8, p-value < 0.01; Cramer's V : 0.395

13. RESULTS: ATTITUDE TO GENETICALLY MODIFIED SALMON vs. OPINON ABOUT INFORMATION X-squared = 102.13, df = 12, p-value < 0.01; Cramer's V : 0.15

14. RESULTS: INFO ABOUT GENETICALLY MODIFIED SALMON vs. OPINON ABOUT INFORMATION X-squared = 199.67, df = 6, p-value < 0.01; Cramer's V : 0.254

15. CONCLUSIONS There is evidence in favor of the hypothesis that attitudes are emotions and, consequently, they are not cognitively processed but experienced. Opinions, on the contrary, are judgements and therefore, a result of our cognitive processing. They will be more or less elaborated depending whether they are under the control of System 1(associative and automatic) or System 2 (rational and controlled). Attitudes are very difficult to change, precisely because they are emotions, they always are under control of System 1, and they are related to survival strategies. Opinions change depending on the available information and the context. When measured, they are the responsible of the “response effects” identified by Cognitive Aspects of Survey Methodology. If we really want to measure attitudes, we have to design questions aimed at identifying what respondents feel about the attitude object instead of what they think about it

16. Thank you very much Contact: ana.munoz@ciemat.es