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

Abstract

Applications of biotechnology to humans have grown dramatically in the last few decades. As public perception of these biotechnologies plays an important role in their development, we investigated the nature, strength, and psychological predictors of these attitudes. Study 1 (N = 303; 56.11% male, mean age = 50.73) developed measures of general and specific attitudes towards human biotechnologies using exploratory factor analyses and correlational analyses with a range of external scales. Study 2 (N = 648; 45.83% male, mean age = 47.13) then replicated these findings in a larger nationally representative sample of the Australian public. Participants held a single general attitude that was, on average, neutral to marginally positive. In contrast, participants generally supported and reported positive emotions towards Bionic Enhancement and Therapeutic and Preventive, whereas they opposed and reported unpleasant emotions towards Non-Corrective Genetic applications. Unique patterns of demographic and psychological variables predicted support, and support related strongly to behavioural intentions.