Table 1.
Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) of control, independent, and dependent variables (N = 1,015)
| M | SD | |
|---|---|---|
| Control variables | ||
| Age | 46.15 | 17.07 |
| Gender | 51.4% females | – |
| SES | ||
| Education | 5.00 (Median = “some college or technical school”) | 1.57 |
| Household income | 6.00 (Median = “household income between $50,000 and $75,000”) | 1.92 |
| Independent variables | ||
| Religious beliefs | 6.00 | 3.01 |
| Deference to scientific authority | 4.30 | 2.02 |
| Mass media use | 4.73 | 2.12 |
| Elaborative processing | 7.15 | 2.11 |
| Science discussion | 4.40 | 2.18 |
| Factual scientific knowledge | 3.44 | 1.25 |
| Trust in scientists | 6.16 | 2.00 |
| Perceived risksa | 33.75 | 12.27 |
| Perceived benefitsa | 47.50 | 14.48 |
| Dependent variable | ||
| Support for federal funding of nanotech | 5.90 | 2.85 |
aNumeric values reported are additive scores