Based on social impact research and the possible NIMBY-effect of the Turin, Italy co-incinerator, this paper deals with risk perception, scientific literacy and their influence on attitude towards high-tech and controversial industrial plants. The paper argues that plant and infrastructure settlements having a substantial ecological impact represent a highly sophisticated and diverse social phenomenon in which risk plays an important but not unique role. Taking into account some important concomitant variables (such as trust, mass media use, political culture in decision-making processes), it is first of all shown that risk is not a mono-dimensional concept, as is assumed by the psychometric tradition, and that two dimensions of the concept are to be found. The first “collective” dimension has a positive monotonic association with a critical attitude towards the co-incinerator, whereas the second and “individual” dimension has an unexpectedly negative correlation. It also demonstrates that scientific literacy has no statistical significance for attitude in our model, confirming the well-known limits of the so called “knowledge deficit” model.
Among 'Bananas' and 'Backyards': A Statistical Analysis of the Effect of Risk and Scientific Literacy on the Attitude towards a Waste Co-incinerator in Italy
TIPALDO, Giuseppe
2011-01-01
Abstract
Based on social impact research and the possible NIMBY-effect of the Turin, Italy co-incinerator, this paper deals with risk perception, scientific literacy and their influence on attitude towards high-tech and controversial industrial plants. The paper argues that plant and infrastructure settlements having a substantial ecological impact represent a highly sophisticated and diverse social phenomenon in which risk plays an important but not unique role. Taking into account some important concomitant variables (such as trust, mass media use, political culture in decision-making processes), it is first of all shown that risk is not a mono-dimensional concept, as is assumed by the psychometric tradition, and that two dimensions of the concept are to be found. The first “collective” dimension has a positive monotonic association with a critical attitude towards the co-incinerator, whereas the second and “individual” dimension has an unexpectedly negative correlation. It also demonstrates that scientific literacy has no statistical significance for attitude in our model, confirming the well-known limits of the so called “knowledge deficit” model.
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