Is the social representation of nanotechnology anchored in that of GMOs?
Abstract
The use of nanotechnology (devices/materials composed of parts less than 10
nanometres) in the development of new products is rapidly expanding.
Industrialists and decision-makers consider nanotechnology to be the next
industrial revolution, but fear they risk the same resistance to nanotechnology
that their counterparts experienced with genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Although risk perception studies have shown that perceived risk of GMOs is
quite high compared to that related to nanotechnology, no study to date has
explored a potential direct social representation link between the two. The
present study aims to fill that gap by comparing the social representations of
nanotechnology and GMOs among a population of non-experts. This study was
conducted with 282 students in human and social sciences and natural sciences.
Using a free association task with the inductive words ‘nanotechnology’ and
‘GMO (genetically modified organism)’, we identified the existing social representations
of the two based on a structural approach. While the representation of
GMOs is objectified in the field of agriculture, objectification for nanotechnology
seems to still be lacking, although its possible objectification likely lies in
computing and robotics. Our calculation of the rate of similarity of associative
words with nanotechnology and GMOs indicated no present, direct link between
their social representations. We discuss the possible evolution of the social
representation of nanotechnology over time.