scholarly journals Intolerance predicts climate skepticism

2021 ◽  
pp. 105719
Author(s):  
Alva Johansson ◽  
Niclas Berggren ◽  
Therese Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Skepticism

Sophistical refutations in the climate change debates

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Goodwin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Climate Scientist ◽  
Climate Skepticism ◽  
Sophistical Refutations ◽  
High Degree

Abstract A case study of a short televised debate between a climate scientist and an advocate for climate skepticism provides the basis for developing a contemporary conception of sophistry. The sophist has a high degree of argumentative content knowledge – knowledge of a domain selected and structured in ways that are most germane for its use in making arguments. The sophist also makes the deliberate choice to argue for a disreputable view, one that goes against the views of the majority, or of the experts. Sophistry, drawing as it does on argumentative skill, is difficult to manage. The best approach is likely to refuse debate; but if debate is unavoidable, then the sophist must be met with equal skill. It will be hard to develop such skill, however, as long as the sophist’s view is thought to be disreputable.

scholarly journals Party Cues in the News: Democratic Elites, Republican Backlash and the Dynamics of Climate Skepticism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Merkley ◽  
Dominik Stecula
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Amazon Mechanical Turk ◽  
Opinion Formation ◽  
Media Content Analysis ◽  
Climate Skepticism ◽  
Build Time ◽  
Party Elites ◽  
Aggregate Dynamics ◽  
Public Opinion Polls

Supporters of the Republican Party have become much more skeptical of the science of climate change since the 1990s. We argue that backlash to out-group cues from Democratic elites played an important role in this process. We construct aggregate measures of climate skepticism from nearly 200 public opinion polls at the quarterly level from 2001 to 2014 and at the annual level from 1986 to 2014. We also build time series measures of possible contributors to climate skepticism using an automated media content analysis. Our analyses provide evidence that cues from party elites – especially from Democrats – are associated with aggregate dynamics in climate change skepticism including among supporters of the Republican Party. We then conduct a party cue survey experiment on a sample of 3,000 Americans through Amazon Mechanical Turk to provide more evidence of causality. Together, these results draw attention to the importance of out-group cue-taking and suggest we should see climate change skepticism through the lens of elite-led opinion formation.

Social Media and Beliefs about Climate Change: A Cross-National Analysis of News Use, Political Ideology, and Trust in Science

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Diehl ◽  
Brigitte Huber ◽  
Homero Gil de Zúñiga ◽  
James Liu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Emerging Media ◽  
Climate Skepticism ◽  
The Individual ◽  
National Analysis

Abstract This study explores the individual- and country-level factors that influence how getting news from social media relates to people’s beliefs about anthropogenic climate change. Concepts of psychological distance and motivated reasoning are tested using multilevel analysis with survey data in 20 countries (N = 18,785). Results suggest that using social media for news is associated with a decrease in climate skepticism across the sample. However, social context at the individual-level (conservative political ideology and low trust in science) and at the macro-level (high gross domestic product and individualism) moderate the effect, and therefore reduce social media’s potential to inform the public about climate change. This study contributes to conversations about the ability of emerging media to address science issues, particularly in developing countries.

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