Living with the nuclear threat: psychological reactions and responses
Thirty subjects (15 males and 15 females) at the Forestville Nursing Center, Forestville, Connecticut participated in a clinical interview that assessed attitudes towards the future in relation to the nuclear threat. Subjects did not know the topic of the research prior to the interview, but were told that it was a study about their opinions of the 1980s. The population was described with respect to demographic, socioeconomic, educational, and political variables. The main areas considered were hopefulness for their future, personal action in response to the nuclear threat, and beliefs concerning the effectiveness of that action. Results supported and enlarged upon literature theories concerning peoples' beliefs about the future. Only 23.3% of the subjects made hopeful predictions for the future of the world and 50% made hopeful predictions for North America. Where subjects' personnel future was concerned 80% felt hopeful. Other literature claims concerning powerlessness and beliefs concerning the effect of action were also supported. Ninety-three per cent of the subjects were inactive and 83.3% believed actions they might take would be ineffective. Additional findings showed that over 50% of the subjects believed living with the nuclear threat had an effect on them personally, 50% saw an effect on their families, 40% an effect on friends, and 96.7% an effect on society. Without prior cueing, 66.7% brought up nuclear concerns before the topic was introduced by the interviewer, indicating that in this sample there was a fairly high level of awareness about the issue.
- Research Organization:
- Florida Inst. of Tech., Melbourne (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5070426
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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