scholarly journals Perceived Social Consensus Can Reduce Ideological Biases on Climate Change

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Goldberg ◽  
Sander van der Linden ◽  
Anthony Leiserowitz ◽  
Edward Maibach
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Social Dilemmas ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Social Consensus ◽  
Total N ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Change Beliefs ◽  
The U.S

It is well established that conservatives in the U.S. are substantially less likely than liberals to accept that climate change is happening and human-caused and are less supportive of policies to limit climate change. However, it is likely that ideological differences in climate change beliefs, attitudes, and policy preferences are smaller when people have close friends and family members who care about climate change. Here we use nine nationally representative survey samples (total N = 16,168) to evaluate this claim and test if perceived social consensus predicts a smaller difference in climate change beliefs between liberals and conservatives. We find that social consensus plays an important role in climate change beliefs, attitudes, and policy preferences for people across the ideological spectrum, but especially among conservatives. These findings provide important insights on how to bridge ideological divides in large social dilemmas such as climate change.

scholarly journals Perceived Social Consensus Can Reduce Ideological Biases on Climate Change

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 495-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Goldberg ◽  
Sander van der Linden ◽  
Anthony Leiserowitz ◽  
Edward Maibach
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Social Dilemmas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Social Consensus ◽  
Total N ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Change Beliefs

It is well established that conservatives in the United States are substantially less likely than liberals to accept that climate change is happening and is human caused and are less supportive of policies to limit climate change. However, it is likely that ideological differences in climate change beliefs, attitudes, and policy preferences are smaller when people have close friends and family members who care about climate change. Here, we use nine nationally representative survey samples (total N = 16,168) to evaluate this claim and test if perceived social consensus predicts a smaller difference in climate change beliefs between liberals and conservatives. We find that social consensus plays an important role in climate change beliefs, attitudes, and policy preferences for people across the ideological spectrum, but especially among conservatives. These findings provide important insights on how to bridge ideological divides in large social dilemmas such as climate change.

A Social Identity Approach to Engaging Christians in the Issue of Climate Change

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Goldberg ◽  
Abel Gustafson ◽  
Matthew T. Ballew ◽  
Seth A. Rosenthal ◽  
Anthony Leiserowitz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Total N ◽  
Religious Issue ◽  
Exploratory Experiment ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Change Beliefs ◽  
Social Identity Approach

Using two nationally representative surveys (total N = 2,544) and two experiments (total N = 1,620), we investigate a social identity approach to engaging Christians in the issue of climate change. Results show Christian Americans say “protecting God’s creation” is a top reason for wanting to reduce global warming. An exploratory experiment and a preregistered replication tested a “stewardship frame” message with Christian Americans and found significant increases in pro-environmental and climate change beliefs, which were explained by increases in viewing environmental protection as a moral and religious issue, and perceptions that other Christians care about environmental protection.

scholarly journals Climate Change in the American Mind: April 2019

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Leiserowitz ◽  
Edward Maibach ◽  
Seth A. Rosenthal ◽  
John Kotcher ◽  
Parrish Bergquist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Climate Change Communication ◽  
American Mind ◽  
University Center ◽  
Change Communication ◽  
George Mason University ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The U.S

This report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey – Climate Change in the American Mind – conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (climatecommunication.yale.edu) and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication (climatechangecommunication.org). Interview dates: March 29-April 8, 2019. Interviews: 1,291 adults in the U.S. (18+).

scholarly journals Communicating Climate Change: Probabilistic Expressions and Concrete Events

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Joslyn ◽  
Raoni Demnitz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Change Beliefs ◽  
Unanimous Agreement

Abstract Despite near unanimous agreement among climate scientists about global warming, a substantial proportion of Americans remain skeptical or unconcerned. The two experiments reported here tested communication strategies designed to increase trust in and concern about climate change. They also measured attitudes toward climate scientists. Climate predictions were systematically manipulated to include either probabilistic (90% predictive interval) or deterministic (mean value) projections that described either concrete (i.e., heat waves and floods) or abstract events (i.e., temperature and precipitation). The results revealed that projections that included the 90% predictive interval were considered more trustworthy than deterministic projections. In addition, in a nationally representative sample, Republicans who were informed of concrete events with predictive intervals reported greater concern and more favorable attitudes toward climate scientists than when deterministic projections were used. Overall, these findings suggest that while climate change beliefs may be rooted in partisan identity, they remain malleable, especially when targeted communication strategies are used.

scholarly journals Climate change in the American mind: November 2019

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Leiserowitz ◽  
Edward Maibach ◽  
Seth A. Rosenthal ◽  
John Kotcher ◽  
Parrish Bergquist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Communication ◽  
American Mind ◽  
University Center ◽  
Change Communication ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Margin Of Error ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Macarthur Foundation

This report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey – Climate Change in the American Mind – conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (climatecommunication.yale.edu) and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication (climatechangecommunication.org). Interview dates: November 8 – 20, 2019. Interviews: 1,303 adults in the U.S. (18+). Average margin of error +/- 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The research was funded by the 11th Hour Project, the Energy Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation. A special thank you goes to Parrish Bergquist, PhD and MattoMildenberger, PhD for creating an automated version of this report.

scholarly journals Climate change in the American Mind: April 2020

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Leiserowitz ◽  
Edward Maibach ◽  
Seth A. Rosenthal ◽  
John Kotcher ◽  
Parrish Bergquist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Confidence Level ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Climate Change Communication ◽  
American Mind ◽  
University Center ◽  
Change Communication ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Margin Of Error ◽  
Nationally Representative

This report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey – Climate Change in the American Mind – conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (climatecommunication.yale.edu) and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication (climatechangecommunication.org). Interview dates: April 7 – 17, 2020. Interviews: 1,029 Adults (18+). Average margin of error +/- 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

scholarly journals Explicit (but not implicit) environmentalist identity predicts pro-environmental behavior and policy preferences (postprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron Brick ◽  
Calvin K. Lai
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Implicit Measure ◽  
Individual Action ◽  
Environmental Behaviors ◽  
Total N ◽  
Implicit Identity ◽  
The U.S

Awareness of environmental problems has increased dramatically over recent decades, but individual action to address environmental issues has remained stagnant. Shifting social identities may be an under-appreciated explanation of this gap: identification with environmentalists in the U.S. dropped from 78% to 42% since 1991. In four pre-registered studies of U.S. residents (total N = 2,033), we explored the predictors and outcomes of environmentalist identity. We also developed a novel implicit measure of less deliberate aspects of environmentalist identity. We used explicit and implicit environmentalist identity to predict self-reported environmental behaviors and policy preferences. Meta-analysis of our studies revealed that explicit identity was moderately associated with implicit identity (r = .24). Explicit identity strongly and uniquely predicted pro-environmental behaviors and policy preferences (partial rs = .58, .62), while implicit identity did not uniquely predict either (partial rs = .05, .05). Our findings highlight the importance of social identity in conservation.

scholarly journals Politics and global warming, April 2020

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Leiserowitz ◽  
Edward Maibach ◽  
Seth A. Rosenthal ◽  
John Kotcher ◽  
Matthew Thomas Ballew ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Climate Change Communication ◽  
American Mind ◽  
University Center ◽  
Change Communication ◽  
Margin Of Error ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Registered Voters

Drawing on a nationally representative survey (N = 1,029; including 911 registered voters), this report describes how Democratic, Independent, and Republican registered voters view global warming, climate and energy policies, and personal and collective action. This report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey – Climate Change in the American Mind – conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (climatecommunication.yale.edu) and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication (climatechangecommunication.org), Interview dates: April 7 – 17, 2020. Average margin of error +/- 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

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