Genetically Modified Food Opponents Know Less Than They Think, Research Finds
Credit: University of Colorado at Boulder
The people who hold the most extreme views opposing genetically modified (GM) foods think they know most about GM food science, but actually know the least, according to new research.
The paper, published Monday in Nature Human Behaviour, was a collaboration between researchers at the Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Toronto and the University of Pennsylvania.
Marketing and psychology researchers asked more than 2,000 U.S. and European adults for their opinions about GM foods. The surveys asked respondents how well they thought they understood genetically modified foods, then tested how much they actually knew with a battery of true-false questions on general science and genetics.
Despite a scientific consensus that GM foods are safe for human consumption and have the potential to provide significant benefits, many people oppose their use. More than 90 percent of study respondents reported some level of opposition to GM foods.
Green: Mandatory labeling. Red:Ban on import and cultivation of GMOs. 64 countries as of 10 May 2015.Source for data: Center for Food Safety
Psychology of extremism
“This result is perverse, but is consistent with previous research on the psychology of extremism,” said Phil Fernbach, the study’s lead author and professor of marketing at the Leeds School of Business. “Extreme views often stem from people feeling they understand complex topics better than they do.”
A potential consequence of the phenomenon, according to the paper’s authors, is that the people who know the least about important scientific issues may be likely to stay that way, because they may not seek out—or be open to—new knowledge.
“Our findings suggest that changing peoples’ minds first requires them to appreciate what they don’t know,” said study co-author Nicholas Light, a Leeds School of Business PhD candidate. “Without this first step, educational interventions might not work very well to bring people in line with the scientific consensus.”
Beyond genetically modified foods
The paper’s authors also explored other issues, like gene therapy and climate change denial. They found the same results for gene therapy.
However, the pattern did not emerge for climate change denial. The researchers hypothesize that the climate change debate has become so politically polarized that people’s attitudes depend more on which group they affiliate with than how much they know about the issue.
Fernbach and Light plan to follow this paper with more research on how their findings play into other issues like vaccinations, nuclear power and homeopathic medicine.
This research was funded by the Humility & Conviction in Public Life project at the University of Connecticut, the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at CU Boulder, the National Science Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Contacts and sources:
Andrew Sorensen
University of Colorado at Boulder
Citation: Extreme opponents of genetically modified foods know the least but think they know the most.
Philip M. Fernbach, Nicholas Light, Sydney E. Scott, Yoel Inbar, Paul Rozin. Nature Human Behaviour, 2019; DOI: 10.1038/s41562-018-0520-3
Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2019/01/genetically-modified-food-opponents.html
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Whistler Blowers, Insiders
It is a pretty blatent lie, people know all they need to know about GMO in that its development and control is now in the hands of private cartels which have sought absolute domination of food production through contractual law rather than GMO being publicly domained research resulting from state funded University test programmes where farmers are free NOT to buy into a seed contract polluting their land with agrichemicals. The original one of which gave us potatoes and carrots from the Mayan civilization. Big difference.