Climate Change From a Distance: An Analysis of Construal Level and Psychological Distance From Climate Change.

Iain Walker,Susie Wang,Mark J. Hurlstone,Carmen Lawrence,Zoe Leviston

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00230

Abstract

The public perception of climate change as abstract and distant may undermine climate action. According to construal level theory, whether a phenomenon is perceived as psychologically distant or close is associated with whether it is construed as abstract or concrete, respectively. Previous work has established a link between psychological distance and climate action, but the associated role of construal level has yet to be explored in depth. In two representative surveys of Australians (N = 217 and N = 216), and one experiment (N = 319), we tested whether construal level and psychological distance from climate change predicted pro-environmental intentions and policy support, and whether manipulating distance and construal increased pro-environmental behaviors such as donations. Results showed that psychological closeness to climate change predicted more engagement in pro-environmental behaviors, while construal level produced inconsistent results, and manipulations of both variables failed to produce increases in pro-environmental behaviors. In contrast with the central tenet of construal level theory, construal level was unrelated to psychological distance in all three studies. Our findings suggest that the hypothesized relationship between construal level and psychological distance may not hold in the context of climate change, and that it may be difficult to change pro-environmental behavior by manipulating these variables.

Highlights

Climate change poses a serious threat to the health, security, and prosperity of all people
Whereas responses on the construal measures do not vary according to climate change belief type, psychological distance appears to decrease with increasing belief in anthropogenic climate change
The results show that psychological closeness predicted greater engagement in pro-environmental behaviors, primarily at the individual level

Summary

Introduction

Climate change poses a serious threat to the health, security, and prosperity of all people. Increasing public support for climate policies, and willingness to engage in individual climate action is crucial for directing broader, societal level change (Moser, 2016). While the reasons for a lack of public engagement are wide-ranging and complex (see Castro, 2006; Owens and Driffill, 2008; Gifford, 2011; Fielding et al, 2014 for an overview), a burgeoning body of evidence (reviewed in McDonald et al, 2015) indicates that a key variable is the perception of climate change as a Climate Change From a Distance distant phenomenon. Several studies have shown that public concern about climate change decreases as perceived psychological distance of climate change from the self increases (Uzzell, 2000; Leiserowitz, 2005; Lima and Castro, 2005; Reser et al, 2012; Spence et al, 2012; Pahl and Bauer, 2013)

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