How people make sense of emerging technologies is an important question as applications are developed and as policies and regulations are formed for those technologies. One of the primary ways people handle information processing about emerging technologies is by turning to trusted sources of information about the issue. In general, and with regards to scientific issues, people use trust in various actors to reduce complexity. For instance, people may be more likely to support a new technology if they trust the scientists involved in its production.

A study I led on how individuals develop trust in institutional sources of information on nanotechnology was recently published in the International Journal of Public Opinion Research. In the study, we use national U.S. survey data to examine how predispositions developed in the educational system and how mass media use predict trust in governmental agencies and in scientists as sources of information about the risks and the benefits of nanotechnology.

Among other findings that show the important role of the value predisposition of deference to scientific authority, which is thought to be developed in our educational system, our study suggests that mass media use is a primary source of trust in these institutional actors. It is widely known that journalists rely heavily on institutional actors such as governmental actors or scientists in their reporting, and it appears those reporting habits are playing at least a partial role in encouraging trust in those institutional actors. Our study demonstrates that mass media sources shape who people turn to and trust in order to make sense of complex issues.

News literacy is increasingly important as information sources multiply in the digital age. People must critically think through the sources they encounter from not only these traditional institutional actors we identify in our study, but also from other non-traditional actors. Non-traditional sources of information in the online setting may include everyone from an independent scientist writing a blog to a casual acquaintance or close friend making a comment on Facebook. I think it is important to continue to clarify how these different types of information-seeking habits relate to trust, one key component of understanding how people make sense of complex issues.