2.2. Differences in attitudes between population groups

The differences in attitudes towards a fifth nuclear power plant within population groups are great, in the same way as before - despite change in the general level of attitudes. There is distinctly more understanding for the project among men (62% supporting, 21% opposing) than among women (28%/48%). This contrast reflects the fact Parliament's decision in principle clearly pleased more men than women.The difference according to sex has been great throughout the follow-up period [Figure 5.].

In older population groups opinions are clearly more positive. Dependency on age to that effect - i.e. the younger the respondent, the more negative the attitude - has been clearly distinguished in the material of the last few years. In the early years of the follow-up and in the material about ten years ago, opinions regarding nuclear power were not tied to age in any direct way.

The connection with the level of education has also changed to a certain degree over time. Although support for nuclear power still increases along with the rise in the level of education, this dependency is weaker than in the early part of the follow-up period. In the present results, this harmony is broken by a group having less vocational education (an old and statistically relatively small group), which has a distinctly positive attitude towards nuclear power. The connection with the education level is also clearly a gender-related phenomenon: with men, positive attitudes towards nuclear power strongly increase along with a rise in their level of education, whereas women's opinions on nuclear power are quite independent of their level of education (no figure).

Among different occupational and social groups, those in a leading position, managers and professionals, as well as entrepreneurs, are most in favour of nuclear power. Politically, the supporters of the National Coalition Party (74%) are distinctly more positive about nuclear power than others. The project also has above-average acceptance among the supporters of the Social Democratic Party. As usual, the supporters of the Green League have the most anti-nuclear power attitudes. As a regional difference - as in the two previous measurements - the residents of Central Finland have greater reservations towards nuclear power than those in the rest of the country. As a supplementary detail from outside the figure, it can be mentioned that the Swedish-speaking population is more anti-nuclear power than Finnish-speaking citizens.

The population of the municipalities in which nuclear power plants are already located are clearly more positive about the building of additional nuclear power capacity than people elsewhere in the country - in the same way as in the previous results. Supporters of a fifth nuclear power plant constitute a significant majority in both Loviisa (63%) and Eurajoki (71%). In both municipalities positive attitudes towards nuclear power have increased somewhat since last year. When further examining the change, it can be seen that the 'demand' for a plant has been on the increase in these municipalities for several years. Particularly the trend in Eurajoki is linear. The support for further construction of nuclear power was weaker than normal in both municipalities in 1999 [Figure 6.].

If changes in attitudes from the previous measurement are examined in each population group, it can be seen that the change in attitudes of the entire population reflects a changing trend throughout the social structure, not any strong change in the opinions of any particular population group. Nuclear power is today better understood than before, by men and by women, by the young and by the old, by educated and uneducated people [Figure 7.].

This 'uniform' result corresponds with the observations made in other surveys concerning the climate of social attitudes (including EVA 2003). According to the results of these surveys, a change in attitudes proceeds without any visible vanguard groups followed by public opinions. As the valuation of a certain matter increases or decreases, it happens in practice in the same way in all groups. Although the groups' attitudes change, the inter-group distances between the attitudes remain considerably unchanged. Each group operates in a way at its own level.