How Frames Can Stunt Support for Scientific Adaptations: Politicization and the Status Quo Bias
Year: 2013
Type: preprint
Abstract: The politicization of science is a phenomenon that has sparked a great deal of attention in recent years. Nonetheless, few studies directly explore the implications of how frames that highlight its politicization affect public support for scientific adaptations. We present a novel theory to study how frames that highlight politicization affect support for using nuclear power, and test our hypotheses with two experiments. We find, in one study, that politicizing science reduces support for nuclear power and renders arguments about the environmental benefits of nuclear energy invalid, regardless of whether there is a reference to consensus scientific evidence. We find, in a second study, that reference to the potential health risks associated with using nuclear power also decreases support, in the presence of additional frames that highlight either science’s benefits or its politicization. In the end, our findings suggest that a status quo bias prevails that can, under some circumstances, serve as a significant impediment to generating public support for scientific innovations.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Authors: Toby Bolsen, James N. Druckman, Fay Lomax Cook
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3125974072