Extreme Opponents of Genetically Modified Foods Know the Least But Think They Know the Most
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There is widespread agreement among scientists that geneti-cally 听modified 听foods 听are 听safe 听to 听consume and 听have 听the 听potential 听 to 听 provide 听 substantial 听 benefits 听 to 听 humankind3. However, 听many 听people 听still 听harbour 听concerns 听about 听them 听or 听oppose 听their 听use4,5. 听In 听a 听nationally 听representative 听sample 听of 听US adults, we find that as extremity of opposition to and con-cern 听about 听genetically 听modified 听foods 听increases, 听objective 听knowledge 听about 听science 听and 听genetics 听decreases, 听but 听per-ceived understanding of genetically modified foods increases. Extreme 听opponents 听know 听the 听least, 听but 听think 听they 听know 听the 听most. 听Moreover, 听the 听relationship 听between 听self-assessed 听and 听objective 听knowledge 听shifts 听from 听positive 听to 听negative 听at 听high 听levels of opposition. Similar results were obtained in a paral-lel study with representative samples from the United States, France and Germany, and in a study testing attitudes about a medical 听application 听of 听genetic 听engineering 听technology 听(gene 听therapy). This pattern did not emerge, however, for attitudes and beliefs about climate change.
Marketing: Fernbach, P. M., Light, N., Scott, S. E., Inbar, Y., & Rozin, P. (2019). Extreme opponents of genetically modified foods know the least but think they know the most. Nature Human Behaviour