scientific, social, ecological rationality and public attitudes toward genetically modified food in China: based on the survey of urban residents in three cities of China

Genetically modified (GM) technology is crucial for global food security, but its acceptance is often constrained by public attitudes. This study investigates how three types of rationality (scientific, social, and ecological) are associated with attitudes toward GM food in China, and examines the mediating role of institutional trust. Based on questionnaire data from 1020 Chinese urban residents, structural equation modeling showed that scientific rationality was positively associated with perceived benefits but not with perceived risks. Social rationality was negatively associated with perceived benefits and positively with perceived risks. Ecological rationality was positively associated with perceived risks only. Institutional trust directly predicted public attitudes and mediated the relationships between rationality types and perceived benefits/risks. The indirect path from scientific rationality via trust and perceived risks was not significant, suggesting this group's positive attitudes stem from benefit-focused processing. The model explained 53.6% of attitude variance. Findings demonstrate that public attitudes are rooted in value orientations and channeled through institutional trust, offering implications for targeted communication, value dialogue, and trust‑building in food risk governance.