Effect of lay theory of climate change on coping strategies: Stability and variability of information-induced results

Abstract

Individuals' explanations for the cause of global climate change are based on their life experiences and acquired climate knowledge, namely the lay theories of climate change by this study. This explanation could related with their coping on climate change, but previous research has paid less attention to this issue. Study 1 conducted two national surveys (1a: n = 978, 1b: n = 933) to explore Chinese people’s lay theories of climate change and their relationship to coping strategies. In Study 2, three sub-studies were conducted to investigate the variability of lay theories of climate change and its impact on coping strategies, respectively, using the priming experiment (2a: n = 150) and the daily experience method (2b: n = 76, 2c: n = 138). The results suggest that lay theories of climate change can be divided into natural cycle theory and human-made acceleration theory. Human-made acceleration theory positively predicts problem- and meaning-focused coping strategies, and negatively predicts emotion-focused coping strategies. Participants' lay theories of climate change, while stable, are subject to change, which in turn affects their coping strategies. It is harder to get participants to switch to natural cycle theory than to human-made acceleration theory. This study puts forward the viewpoint of lay theories of climate change, which enriches the research on coping strategies of climate change.