Journal Articles

Women’s Attitudes Toward Biomedical Technology for Infertility : The Case for Technological Salience

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Research has consistently revealed gender differences in attitudes toward science and technology. One explanation is that women are more personally affected by particular technologies (e.g., biomedical interventions), so they consider them differently. However, not all women universally experience biomedical technologies. We use the concept of technological salience to address how differences in subjective implications of a technology might explain differences in women’s attitudes toward biotechnology. In a sample of U.S. women from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers, we examine how women with and without a biomedical barrier to fertility evaluate biotechnology for infertility, which, we argue, reflects differences in technological salience. For women with a biomedical barrier, various experiences, beliefs, and values impacted their attitudes; yet, most of these did not affect attitudes if women had not experienced a fertility barrier. Results suggest that technological salience contextualizes women’s attitudes toward these biotechnologies and may also have broader implications for other biotechnologies.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Gender & Society

Call Number

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Publisher

Thousand Oak : sage publisher., 2012

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

08912432

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Vol. 26 no. 2, April 2012,pp. 261-289

Subject(s)

Reproduction
Health/Medical
Knowledge/science
Women's Attitudes Toward Biomedical

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