Cognitive Structures in the Perception of Modern Technologies

Results of two survey studies (N = 197 and N = 2037) are presented. It is shown that attitudes of the public about "technology in general" are not stable and can easily be affected by how the subject is introduced. Eight areas of technology are compared on the basis of empirical relations in attitudinal judgments, in attribute ratings, in self-assigned importance weights of attributes, and in importance of reference groups and persons. On the basis of similarities in these four kinds of judgments, three clusters of technology areas were identified: (1) a cluster of modern reproductive technologies, (2) an information cluster containing automation, computer, and communication technologies, and (3) a cluster containing nuclear energy and military technology. The attitude toward "technology in general" can not be considered as an aggregation of attitudes toward these areas of technology: The relations between general attitude and specific attitudes are only moderate to negligible.