Table I.
Constructs of the Questionnaire, Respective Items, and the Sources They Were Adapted From
| Intrapersonal Variables | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Acceptability | The United Kingdom needs a lot of electricity; people should therefore accept nuclear power. | Visschers et al. (2011) |
| We can give up nuclear power without any problem. | Visschers et al. (2011) | |
| I reluctantly accept that we will need nuclear power to help combat climate change. | Corber et al. (2011) | |
| I am in favor of nuclear power to be part of the of the United Kingdom's energy mix in 2025. | O'Hara et al. (2014) | |
| I reluctantly accept that we will need nuclear power to help improve energy security in the United Kingdom. | Corber et al. (2011) | |
| Risk perception | The risk of accidents in the U.K. nuclear power industry is minimal. | Visschers et al. (2011) |
| U.K. nuclear power stations are safe. | Visschers et al. (2011) | |
| Nuclear power degrades animals, plants, land, and water. | Greenberg (2009) | |
| In general, how risky do you consider the use of nuclear power to be to the society as a whole?* | Finucane, Alhakami, Slovic, & Johnson (2000) | |
| Benefit perception | Nuclear power has a positive impact on climate mitigation. | Visschers et al. (2011) |
| Nuclear power provides secure energy supply. | Visschers et al. (2011) | |
| Nuclear power results in cheap energy. | O'Hara et al. (2014) | |
| In general, how beneficial do you consider the use of nuclear power to be to society as a whole?* | Finucane, Alhakami, Slovic, & Johnson (2000) | |
| Interpersonal Variables | ||
| Name generator: | ||
| Affect approach | Who belongs to your closest circle of people you interact with and spend a lot of time with? These may include people from your family, circle of friends, or people from your professional life (i.e., university, school, work, sport clubs) with whom you discuss personal matters and have spent a substantial amount of time with within the past six months. | Marsden (2005) |
| Exchange approach | With whom, out of the people that you have already listed, have you talked about nuclear power or shale gas/fracking? You can click on multiple people. | |
| Name interpreter: | Is the following person a proponent of nuclear power? | Carrington et al. (2005) |
| How close are you to each of the above‐mentioned people? | ||
| How long have you known these people in years? | ||
| How risky does the following person consider the use of nuclear power to be to the society as a whole? | ||
| Who influences your perspective of nuclear power? Please check all that apply. | ||
| Familiarity | How familiar are you with the risks and benefits of nuclear power? | Boudet et al. (2014) |
| How much have you ever heard or read about nuclear power? | Boudet et al. (2014) |
Note: The items are shown for nuclear power. The questions assessing shale gas used the same wording only replacing “nuclear power” with “shale gas.” Intrapersonal variables were all measured on a Likert scale ranging from 1 “strongly agree” to 5 “strongly disagree.” The item in italics has been deleted in the final measurement model because of low cross‐loadings (<0.05) with the other construct items. Items including an asterisk symbol were all measured on a different Likert scale, that is, risk items were measured on a scale ranging from 1 “not at all risky” to 5 “extremely risky”; benefit items were measured on a scale ranging from 1 “not at all beneficial” to 5 “extremely beneficial.”