Factors contributing to NIMBY attitudes
- 1 January 1993
- journal article
- Published by Elsevier BV in Waste Management
- Vol. 13 (2), 125-129
- https://doi.org/10.1016/0956-053x(93)90004-g
Abstract
Most discussions about public resistance to hazardous waste facility siting assume that opponents to the projects—those evincing “not-in-my-backyard” (NIMBY) attitudes—have strong environmental values, insufficient or inaccurate knoeledge, and can be assuaged by managerial input or economic benefits. Yet our findings suggest that a person's orientation towards the environment is not a significant factor in opposing these facilities, and that knowledge generally works to polarize differences rather than collapse them. Prescriptions for dilemma revolve around three strategies: education, economic incentives, and inclusion in management. Yet these prescriptions generally do not work as expected, and siting is delayed or scrapped. We propose that the foregoing assumptions are in some ways inaccurate or wrong, and that NIMBY attitudes have a stronger basis in core cultural values than more immediate instrumental considerations. The case of nuclear power is used as an analogy, since research has shown clearly that presentation of the issue as one of deficient public accountability by capitalist institutions has proved more effective than alternative explanations evoking environmental quality or economic efficiency. Technical issues, such as those involving nuclear power and hazardous waste, require intermediaries for most people to understand and interpret the issues and relate them to their core values. But while there are many continuities between the two issues, we find that there are still opportunities for public attitudes toward hazardous waste to develop differently.Keywords
This publication has 8 references indexed in Scilit:
- Fear of cancer and knowledge of cancer: A review and proposed relevance to hazardous waste sitesSocial Science & Medicine, 1990
- Media Discourse and Public Opinion on Nuclear Power: A Constructionist ApproachAmerican Journal of Sociology, 1989
- Elite Ideology and Risk Perception in Nuclear Energy PolicyAmerican Political Science Review, 1987
- THE POTENTIAL OF THE THEORY OF COMPENSATION FOR MITIGATING PUBLIC OPPOSITION TO HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT FACILITY SITING: SOME EVIDENCE FROM FIVE MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITIESPolicy Studies Journal, 1985
- Differences by Sex in Support for Nuclear PowerSocial Forces, 1984
- Improving Community Acceptance of Hazardous Waste Facilities Through Alternative Systems for Mitigating and Managing RiskHazardous Waste, 1984
- The Two Faces of Issue VotingAmerican Political Science Review, 1980
- The Fluoridation Dialogue: Is It an Ideological Conflict?Public Opinion Quarterly, 1961