Characteristics and Variables of Nuclear Energy Attitudes of Social Groups

This study was conducted to find and explain characteristics of diverse social groups' attitudes toward nuclear power plant. 7 hypotheses were constructed and statistically tested. In order to test 7 hypotheses, both Nuclear Energy Attitude Scale and Environmental Attitude Scale were distributed and field surveyed on 839 respondents representing a diverse range of subject groups. The results showed that 6 hypotheses were statistically accepted while 1 hypothesis statistically rejected. Contrary to the first hypothesis, this test found that people in close proximity to the nuclear power plant had more positive attitudes toward nuclear power than those living in distance from the nuclear power plant. Males had more positive nuclear energy attitudes than females. Academic backgrounds were not related to nuclear energy attitudes. Environmental attitudes showed negative relationship with nuclear energy attitudes. While anti-nuclear citizen action groups had the most negative attitudes, nuclear power plant workers had the most positive attitudes among responding groups. Finally, university students majoring in nuclear engineering had more positive attitudes than those of religious studies.

핵에너지 태도의 사회 그룹별 특성과 변수