International Reactions to the Threat of Nuclear War: The Rise and Fall of Concern in the Eighties

Abstract

The threat of nuclear war was a substantial concern during the 1980s, not just in the United States but in Europe and the Soviet Union as well. This article reviews poll data and psychological literature investigating reactions to the nuclear threat in these three areas of the world. It documents the trends in likelihood estimates, concern, and policy preferences during the last decade and examines factors that may account for these trends. The reactions of the different nations are compared. While people's reactions to the nuclear threat differed across nations, these reactions displayed a similar pattern over time, peaking in the first half of the 1980s and subsequently declining. Also discussed are methodological issues, the potential of psychology to effect political change, and the possible future rise in concern about nuclear war.