Attitudes and opinions are a primary focus of attention throughout social psychology, and
all of the social sciences. In the studies conducted to determine the public’s attitude to
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nanotechnology, it was found that people focused on the benefits of nanotechnology rather
than its risks and they believed that it had an important role to play in the field of science
and technology (Pidgeon and Rogers-Hayden 2007; Besley et al. 2008; Burri and Bellucci
2008). Burri and Bellucci (2008) in their study, discussed some findings obtained by a
questionnaire developed by the Swiss Technology Evaluation Department to determine
public attitudes towards and opinions of newly emerging technologies. They found that
Swiss people had a balanced attitude to nanotechnology: despite having concerns about it,
it was stated that nanotechnology may offer very important opportunities in the future.
Similar studies have also revealed positive attitudes towards nanotechnology (Cobb 2005;
Macoubrie 2006). A study conducted in Germany has shown that most people in Germany
have an indifferent, ambiguous, or non-attitude toward nanotechnology (Vandermoere
et al. 2010) which contrast with previous US studies which has shown that people perceive
the benefits of nanotechnology as higher than the risks (Cobb and Macoubrie 2004). In
Europe, the public seems to be less optimistic about nanotechnology (Gaskell et al. 2005).