Health, Technology and the Environment: the Risks and Rewards of Modernity that Shape Confidence in Science

• In Event: 262 - Section on Science, Knowledge, and Technology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 04.

Abstract

Science and society have a problematic relationship today. It is a different issue than the one that existed during the Middle Ages and the onset of the Enlightenment. We live in a world where science and scientific evidence can be labelled as “just one opinion”. Your “belief” or “disbelief” in scientific truths is used as evidence of your conformity to a particular subgroup. Public discourse is not peer-reviewed: anyone can put an idea out there, and campaign for adherents. The theory of risk society and the related concept of reflexive modernization provide the best way to sort out the science and society puzzle, and bridge world polity theory with postmodernism. We examine 17 high-income countries to determine the individual level and country level factors that affect confidence in science, and risk acceptance. At the country-level, we find that higher immunization rates, higher out-of-pocket healthcare spending, higher technology penetration, and higher coal burning all correspond to more pro-science attitudes.

Authors

• Lindsey P. Peterson, Mississippi State University

• Anne M. Price, Valdosta State University