{"id":382922,"date":"2019-05-24T09:25:12","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T13:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=382922"},"modified":"2025-07-07T14:21:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T18:21:25","slug":"genetically-modified-food-consumer-attitudes-science-382922","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/genetically-modified-food-consumer-attitudes-science-382922\/","title":{"rendered":"Genetically modified food: Would you eat it if you understood the science behind it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonathon McPhetres<\/a>, a newly minted PhD in psychology from the University of Rochester<\/a>, admits he\u2019s \u201cpersonally amazed\u201d what we can do with genes, specifically genetically modified food\u2014such as saving papayas from extinction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can makes crops better, more resilient, and more profitable and easier for farmers to grow, so that we can provide more crops around the world,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Yet the practice of altering foods genetically, through the introduction of a gene from a different organism, has courted controversy right from the get-go. While genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are considered safe by an overwhelming majority of scientists, including the National Academy of Sciences<\/a>, the World Health Organization, and the American Medical Association, only about one third of consumers share that view.<\/p>\n

One reason for the divide is that critics of genetically modified food have been vocal, often decrying it as \u201cunnatural\u201d or \u201cFrankenfood\u201d\u2014in stark contrast to a 2016 review of published research that found no convincing evidence for negative health or environmental effects of GM foods.<\/p>\n

\"Jon
Jonathon McPhetres. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A team of psychologists and biologists from the University of Rochester<\/a>, the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and Cardiff University in Wales, set out to discover if the schism could be overcome; that is, to see if consumers\u2019 attitudes would change if the public understood the underlying science better.<\/p>\n

The short answer is \u201cyes.\u201d The team’s findings were recently published in the\u00a0Journal of Environmental Psychology<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitical orientation and demographics inform attitudes and we can\u2019t change those,\u201d says McPhetres, the study\u2019s lead author. \u201cBut we can teach people about the science behind GMOs, and that seems to be effective in allowing people to make more informed decisions about the products that they use or avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous research has shown that more than half of Americans know very little or nothing at all<\/a> about genetically modified food.<\/p>\n

In a series of studies, the team discovered that people\u2019s existing knowledge about GM food is the greatest determining factor of their attitudes towards the food\u2014overriding all other tested factors. In fact, existing GM knowledge was more than 19 times higher as a determinant\u2014compared to the influence of demographic factors such as a person’s education, socioeconomic status, race, age, and gender.<\/p>\n

The team replicated the US findings in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, where opposition to modified food has tended to be higher than in the United States, and where GM food is highly regulated in response to consumer concerns.<\/p>\n

In one study, using a representative US sample, participants responded on a scale of 1 (don\u2019t care if foods have been genetically modified), 2 (willing to eat, but prefer unmodified foods), to 3 (will not eat genetically modified foods). Next, the team asked 11 general science knowledge questions\u2014such as whether the universe began with a huge explosion, antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria, electrons are smaller than atoms, and how long it takes for the earth to orbit the sun. In study 2, participants took an additional quiz about their knowledge about the science, methods, and benefits of GM foods and procedures.<\/p>\n

The team found that specific\u00a0<\/em>knowledge about GM foods and procedures is independent from a person\u2019s general <\/em>science knowledge\u2014making the first (GM knowledge) a nearly twice as strong predictor of GM attitudes.<\/p>\n

\"ATTITUDES<\/p>\n

Genetically modified food: A guide to overcoming skepticism<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The researchers followed up by conducting a five-week longitudinal study with 231 undergraduates in the US to test, first, if a lack of knowledge about GM foods could be overcome by teaching participants the basic science behind GM technology, and second, if greater knowledge would alter attitudes. McPhetres worked with Rochester colleague Jennifer Brisson<\/a>, an associate biology professor, who vetted the students’ learning materials.<\/p>\n

The team discovered that learning the underlying science led to more positive attitudes towards genetically modified foods, a greater willingness to eat them, and a lowered perception of GM foods as risky.<\/p>\n

Their findings, argues the team, lend direct support for the deficit model of science<\/a> attitudes, which\u2014in broad terms\u2014holds that the\u00a0public’s skepticism towards science and technology is largely due to a lack of understanding, or absence of pertinent information.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s online modules avoid confrontational approaches \u201cwhich threaten preexisting beliefs and convictions,\u201d suggesting a relatively simple guide for how to overcome skepticism about GM foods: focus on the actual underlying science not the message.<\/p>\n

For McPhetres, the studies tie neatly into his larger research focus on people\u2019s basic science knowledge and general interest in science<\/a>\u2014and how to improve both.<\/p>\n

Knowledge and appreciation of science\u2014\u201cthat\u2019s the kind of information that people need to make informed decisions about products they use, and the food they eat,\u201d say McPhetres who’s now heading to Canada for a joint post-doctoral appointment between the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The short answer is \u201cyes,\u201d according a new study from researchers in Rochester, Amsterdam and Wales, who set out to discover whether more information about genetically modified foods could change consumers\u2019 attitudes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":942,"featured_media":383872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[18592,29502,18792,18572,16072],"class_list":["post-382922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sci-tech","tag-department-of-psychology","tag-featured-post-side","tag-genetics","tag-research-finding","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenetically modified food: Would you eat it if you understood the science behind it?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cYes,\u201d according a new study from researchers who set out to discover 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