Attitudes Toward Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear War: 1945–1982

This paper examines responses to nuclear‐related survey items from 1945 through April, 1982, which are on file at the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. A content analysis of the wordings of the 498 items identified a number of themes which have appeared in many items across time. These include questions about criteria for the production and use of nuclear weapons, perceptions of the nuclear arms race, and personal fears and apprehensions. Analysis of response data for a sample of the items revealed a modest increase in personal fears across time, and a sharper increase in disenchantment with both the arms race and U.S. readiness to use nuclear weapons in response to Soviet invasion of Western Europe. These trends are tentatively explained in terms of altered perceptions of the strategic balance, with the Russians now seen as having reached or even exceeded parity with the U.S. An agenda is suggested for increasing our understanding of nuclear‐related public opinion in the future.