SGER PROPOSAL: Testing the Role of Morality Judgments on the Impact of Procedural and Outcome Fairness Perceptions in the Context of Public Hearings About Nuclear Energy

在未来几年，扩大美国的核能生产有可能成为公众广泛讨论的话题。很少有技术能像核能那样激起双方如此强烈的热情。面对反对意见和更便宜的替代方案，美国能源生产商自上世纪70年代以来就没有下令建造核电站。然而，对气候变化、能源价格和能源独立的担忧，重新引起了人们对核能技术的兴趣。截至2008年底，美国各地的能源生产商都在提议建造新工厂。这个研究项目利用了南卡罗来纳州的一个这样的提议，在该州为期一周的许可听证会的背景下调查公众对核电的意见。公共服务委员会。在聆讯过程前后均会进行调查。借鉴对概念的研究？程序正义,?这项研究特别感兴趣的是，在多大程度上，对国家决策过程的公平性的看法可能会减轻对拟议扩张的潜在担忧。其假设是，公平程序是公共实体确保其决策过程合法性的主要机制。相比之下，另一种假设认为，核电的价值承载特性使得公平程序与人们如何判断决策过程无关。根据这种观点，他们如何看待这个过程的唯一因素是决策者是否做出了正确的决定。除了调查研究外，这项研究还将包括对围绕听证会过程的媒体环境（包括电视和平面新闻）的系统研究，并考虑媒体报道对可能发生的公众舆论变化的影响。

Expanding nuclear energy production in the United States has the potential to become a topic of substantial public discussion in upcoming years. Few technologies evoke as much passion, on both sides, as nuclear power. Faced with opposition and cheaper alternatives, U.S. energy producers have not ordered construction of a nuclear power plant since the 1970s. Concerns about climate change, energy prices, and energy independence, however, have engendered renewed interest in nuclear energy technology. As of late 2008, energy producers across the United States were proposing to build new plants. This research project takes advantage of one such proposal in South Carolina to investigate public opinion about nuclear power in the context of a week-long permitting hearing by the state?s Public Service Commission. Surveys will be conducted both before and after the hearing process. Drawing on research into the concept of ?procedural justice,? the study is specifically interested in the degree to which perceptions of the fairness of the state decision-making process may mitigate potential concerns about the proposed expansion. The hypothesis is that fair process is a primary mechanism through which public entities can secure legitimacy for their decision-making processes. In contrast, an alternative hypothesis suggests that the value-laden nature of nuclear power makes fair process irrelevant to how people will judge the decision-making process. According to this view, the only factor underlying how they perceive the process is whether the decision makers make the right decision. In addition to the survey research, the research will involve a systematic study of the media environment (both television and print journalism) surrounding the hearing process and consider the impact of media coverage in any changes in public opinion that may occur.