Strong GMO opponents tend to know the least about them, study says
The following is an excerpt of an article on Food Dive that references the results of a GMO Answers survey and highlights the need to educate consumers about GMOs.
Dive Brief:
- Those who are the most opposed to genetically modified organisms tend to know the least about them —although they believe they know more than others — according to recent research. The study was published Jan. 14 in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
- Researchers from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Toronto and the University of Pennsylvania surveyed more than 2,000 adults in the U.S. and Europe on their attitudes about GMO foods. Respondents were asked about their understanding of GMOs and given a series of true-or-false questions to test their knowledge of science and genetics.
- Results showed the more strongly respondents said they opposed GMO foods, the more knowledgeable they thought they were about the issue — but the lower their scores were on the knowledge test. "This result is perverse, but is consistent with previous research on the psychology of extremism," Philip M. Fernbach, lead author and a marketing professor at the University of Colorado, said in a release.
