The rational enlightenment hypothesis holds that members of the public are likely to polarize along cultural lines when exposed to such information. Washington DC United States Contact Information for DONALD BRAMAN George Washington University Law School Street, SSRN Resources To search for other abstracts in the SSRN archival database, click here.

KAHAN Yale University Law School Washington DC United States Contact Information for GEOFFREY Using betweensubjects design 1,862, the experiment compared the perceptions of subjects exposed to no information. Data obtained in the experiment also suggested that the observed correlation in the general public between familiarity with nanotechnology and positive view of it is spurious familiarity does not cause favorable view rather other influences, including individualistic cultural values, incline certain individuals both to form positive view and to learn about nanotechnology.

Using betweensubjects design 1,862, the experiment compared the perceptions of subjects exposed to no information. KAHAN Yale University Law School Street, The paper also discusses the implications of these findings for promoting informed public understandings of nanotechnology. Contact Information for DAN COHEN Email address for GEOFFREY The results strongly confirmed the cultural polarization hypothesis and furnished no support for the rational enlightenment hypothesis holds that members of the public will become favorably disposed to nanotechnology as balanced and accurate information about it disseminates. To go to SSRNs main web site www. ssrn. com, click here.

The cultural cognition hypothesis, in contrast, holds that members of the public will become favorably disposed to nanotechnology as balanced and accurate information about it disseminates. COHEN Email address for DAN Keywords nanotechnology, cultural cognition, risk perception Working Paper Series Suggested Citation Kahan, Dan Braman, Donald, Slovic, Paul, Gastil, John and Cohen, Geoffrey The Future of Nanotechnology Risk Perceptions An Experimental Investigation of Two Hypotheses January 31, 2008. KAHAN Yale University Law School To go to SSRNs main web site www. ssrn. com, click here. Terms of Use This page was served by apollo3 in seconds.

KAHAN Contact Author Email address for PAUL SLOVIC University of Oregon Department of Psychology Eugene OR United States 5414852400 Phone 5414852403 Fax Email address for PAUL SLOVIC University of Oregon Department of Psychology Eugene OR United States 5414852400 Phone 5414852403 Fax Email address for PAUL SLOVIC University of Oregon Department of Psychology Eugene OR United States 5414852400 Phone 5414852403 Fax Email address for PAUL SLOVIC University of Oregon Department of Psychology Eugene OR United States 5414852400 Phone 5414852403 Fax Email address for PAUL SLOVIC University of Oregon Department of Psychology Eugene OR United States 5414852400