Attitudes toward animal research: revisiting

Gallup and Beckstead's (1988) commentary in the American Psychologist reported an assessment of college student's attitudes toward animal research. Among many findings, one main conclusion reached by the authors was that the participants in their study were generally concerned about the welfare of animals used in research, but that they also appreciated and valued the need for animal experimentation. Given the declining support for animal research from the general population over the past few decades, the present study administered the same questionnaire to a contemporary sample of university students to determine whether any patterns would emerge in a current sample's responses to these items. While the results suggest that respondents still demonstrate significant concern for animal welfare, importantly, the present sample of participants showed significantly less agreement with items that stressed the importance and value of conducting animal research. Educating college students about the importance of animal research and its valuable contributions to science as an enduring component of instructional practice in neuroscience and other courses may be an important step toward reversing these trends.