An analysis of public attitudes in Australia towards applications of biotechnology to humans: Kinds, causes, and effects

Summary

This research examined the nature, strength, and psychological predictors of Australian public attitudes toward applications of biotechnology to humans, a domain expanding rapidly and sensitive to public perception. Across multiple studies, the authors developed and validated measures of both general and specific attitudes toward human biotechnologies. Study 1, with 303 participants, used exploratory factor analysis and correlations with external scales to establish the structure of these attitudes. Further work distinguished different kinds of biotechnology attitudes and probed their psychological causes and downstream effects. The findings show that attitudes vary systematically by application type and are shaped by identifiable individual-difference predictors. The authors argue that understanding these attitudes is important for guiding the responsible development and adoption of human biotechnologies.