The nuclear threat: when it hurts to think

Attitudes that predict antinuclear-war activity in medical students

The possibility of nuclear war may be the most significant threat to health in the world. Medical practitioners have played, and should continue to play, a leading role in raising awareness of this danger. In the present study, the attitudes that predict a specific antinuclear-war behaviour (that is, signing a letter to the Prime Minister of Australia to request more active political effort to prevent nuclear war) were studied in a group of 143 undergraduate medical students. Attitudes towards that particular behaviour were assessed by means of a questionnaire, and the differences in attitude between students who chose to sign and those who chose not to sign the letter were analysed statistically by means of discriminant analysis. The key differences in attitude between signers and non-signers of the letter was in their belief that such an action would achieve tangible positive outcomes. The results are discussed in terms of the need to target strategies of change for the specific attitudes which are likely to modify behaviour and to promote antinuclear behaviours in medical practitioners, which in turn may alter the behaviour of politicians.