Japanese university students' attitudes toward the Fukushima nuclear disaster

This study investigated Japanese university students' attitudes about the Fukushima nuclear accident and the relations between their attitudes and their opinions about post-disaster reconstruction policies. Gender and geographical differences were also examined. Attitude components were identified, including nuclear power plant efficiency, trust in institutions, and fear of radioactive contamination. Results revealed that men reported higher perceived nuclear power plant efficiency than women did, whereas women showed slightly higher fear of radioactive contamination than men did. Students in Miyagi had higher levels of trust in institutions than students in Tokyo did. Controlling for the effects of gender and geographical differences, fear of radioactive contamination was revealed as a predictor of opinions about post-disaster policies. In contrast, the cognitive components of attitudes did not predict the opinions. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.