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The Role of Affect and Worldviews as Orienting Dispositions in the Perception and Acceptance of Nuclear Power 1
Author(s) -
Peters Ellen,
Slovic Paul
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1996.tb00079.x
Subject(s) - affect (linguistics) , psychology , perception , social psychology , power (physics) , risk perception , nuclear power , predictive power , energy (signal processing) , cognitive psychology , epistemology , communication , statistics , mathematics , ecology , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , biology
Recent research in risk perception has examined the role of affect and worldviews as orienting dispositions that guide people's decisions about complex and risky topics such as nuclear energy. This study tests and supports the hypothesis that worldviews and affect‐laden imagery are highly predictive of perceptions of risk from nuclear power and support for that technology. Furthermore, affect and worldviews each contribute independently to the prediction of nuclear support. We find also that a person's affective imagery associated with nuclear power is systematically related to their worldviews. We conclude that affect and worldviews appear to play similar roles as orienting mechanisms, helping people navigate in a complex, uncertain, and sometimes dangerous world. The implication of this view for the practice of risk communication is briefly discussed.