Abstract
Climate change is a complex issue and understanding it is not an easy endeavour. An abundance of information is available through media and a lot of research has dealt with the question of how to best communicate this issue to the public. However, uncertainty and scepticism remain. In this paper, we argue that the subjective capability of informing oneself satisfactorily about climate change (i.e. informational self-efficacy) to reach goals like forming an opinion, evaluating political decisions regarding climate change, or behaving in a climate protective manner might be a crucial determinant of people’s engagement with the issue. In an online survey with a quota sample of German residents (N = 498), informational self-efficacy positively predicted people’s exposure to climate change communication in the media, their knowledge about the climate system and climate protective behaviours, and the extent to which they actually engaged in climate protective actions. Moreover, informational self-efficacy positively predicted climate protective behaviour and climate system knowledge indirectly through media exposure—but not behavioural knowledge. Hence, next to optimising the provided climate change communication, we suggest to strengthen people’s confidence in dealing with it through media literacy trainings and examine the causal effect of these trainings on informational self-efficacy and climate change engagement. Furthermore, the impact of different behaviours on climate change should be more often and more concretely discussed in media coverage.
Highlights
We live in a complex world and an abundance of available information tries to explain this world to us
We argue that the subjective capability of informing oneself satisfactorily about climate change might be a crucial determinant of people’s exposure to climate change communication in media, the scientific knowledge they gain about the issue, and their engagement in climate protective action
Informational self-efficacy of our German participants positively predicted their exposure to climate change communication in the media, their knowledge about the climate system and climate protective behaviours, and the extent to which they engaged in climate protective actions
Summary
We live in a complex world and an abundance of available information tries to explain this world to us. A complex and pressing challenge humanity is facing is global climate change (IPCC 2018). Climate change is a complex topic due to its global scale, the long-term horizon, the invisibility of its causes, and the prognostic nature of associated research that unavoidably involves a degree of uncertainty (Moser 2010; Sterman 2011). Understanding climate change is not an easy endeavour and a lot of research has dealt with the question of how to best communicate the issue to the public (e.g. Budescu et al 2009; Curry 2011; Hart and Feldman 2016; Moser 2010; Patt and Weber 2014; Schenk and Lensink 2007; Whitmarsh and Lorenzoni 2010; Yohe and Oppenheimer 2011). Practical recommendations to convey information have been formulated (e.g. Corner and Clarke 2017; Shome and Marx 2009; Whitmarsh et al 2011; Wibeck 2014)
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