Citation

Neufeld SJ, Cinnamon JL. Rural Sociol. (1936) 2004; 69(4): 532-551.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Rural Sociological Society, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1526/0036011042722769

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Using both qualitative and quantitative data, this article analyzes farm parents' attitudes towards the trustworthiness, usefulness, and use of advice from farm safety experts. The article evaluates four different perspectives on trust in expert: the Validity of Knowledge perspective, the Salient Values Similarity perspective, the Diffusion of Innovation perspective, and the Local Knowledge perspective. Among other factors, the results show that negative attitudes towards experts are strongly influenced by attitudes towards the validity of scientific knowledge vs. farm experience. They also show that experts who are more involved in farm production have higher levels of trust and usefulness. While all of the perspectives receive some degree of support, the results suggest that local knowledge and culture are critical in shaping attitudes towards experts. Attitudes towards experts are shaped not solely by expert characteristics but by the meanings and significance they assume in specific socio-cultural contexts.

Language: en