Climate Change Attitudes Research Articles

Public opposition to fuel taxes in Europe: how important is social disadvantage and how do welfare regimes compare?

Fuel taxes are seen as an important instrument in the fight against climate change, including in the European Green Deal. From a social-ecological policy perspective, it is important to understand current high levels of public opposition to fuel taxes. If social disadvantage is an important driver of opposition, this would strengthen arguments that fuel taxes need to be designed in a fairer way. However, it remains unclear how important social disadvantage – here defined as a combination of low income, fuel poverty risk, low education, low occupational status and job insecurity – is for explaining opposition compared to factors such as political trust and climate change attitudes, and how the role of social disadvantage varies with welfare regimes in Europe. In this article, we examine how strongly social disadvantage is associated with opposition to fuel taxes once political trust and climate change attitudes are controlled for, and we compare results across welfare regimes. The article uses data from the 2016 European Social Survey and employs logistic regression and decomposition analysis. We find that social disadvantage contributes nearly as much to fuel tax opposition as climate change attitudes and political trust together, with 10.9 and 16.6 percentage points respectively. However, the role of social disadvantage varies by welfare regime. It matters most in Southern and Eastern Europe, where opposition is particularly high, as are poverty and inequality. We discuss implications for social-ecological policy strategies that aim to increase public acceptability of fuel taxes in Europe.

The Preparedness Paradox in Climate Attitudes: Democrats Worry, Republicans Prepare

ABSTRACT Political partisanship is one of the strongest correlates of climate change attitudes in the United States, with Democrats expressing greater concern than Republicans. As the climate crisis progresses, surveys increasingly examine preparedness for environmental emergencies, instead of climate attitudes alone. Does partisan identification associate with environmental preparedness actions as it does other climate attitude measures? We find a paradox: Republicans are more likely to say they have taken preparedness actions than Democrats. We replicate this finding in three survey samples (n = 1,053; n = 1,201; n = 2,318) and provide two sociological explanations. Theoretically, a culture of emergency preparedness integrated with conservative belief systems could strengthen the partisanship association, especially if preparedness is not closely tied to other climate attitudes. Empirically, household income is associated with specific types of preparedness actions, possibly introducing bias based on social class. We discuss the importance of measuring climate preparedness for the future of climate opinion research and climate policy and call for preparedness measures that are applicable to the general population.

Physical, socio-psychological, and behavioural determinants of household energy consumption in the UK

Determining which attitudes and behaviours predict household energy consumption can help accelerate the low-carbon energy transition. Conventional approaches in this domain are limited, often relying on survey methods that produce data on individuals’ motivations and self-reported activities without pairing these with actual energy consumption records, which are particularly hard to collect for large, nationally representative samples. This challenge precludes the development of empirical evidence on which attitudes and behaviours influence patterns of energy consumption, thus limiting the extent to which these can inform energy interventions or conservation programs. This study demonstrates a novel methodology for estimating energy consumption in the absence of actual energy records by using a large, publicly available data set of energy consumption in the UK. We develop a predictive model using the Smart Energy Research Laboratory (SERL) data portal (with records from nearly 13,000 UK households) and then use this model to predict energy consumption (both electric and gas) for a sample of 1,000 UK householders for which we separately collect over 200 variables relating to climate change attitudes and practices. Our approach uses a set of over 50 independent variables that are shared between the data sets, allowing us to train a model on the SERL data and use it to analyse the relationship between energy consumption and the opinions, motivations, and daily practices of survey respondents. Results show that electricity consumption is influenced by a broader range of factors compared to gas. Household energy use is best explained by physical dwelling characteristics, socio-demographic variables, and certain behavioural and attitudinal measures. Notably, pro-environmental attitudes, frugality, and conscientiousness correlate with lower energy use, while income and consumerism are linked to higher consumption. We discuss how these findings can inform efforts to decarbonise home energy use in the UK.

The correlates of environmental initiatives in sports organizations with climate change attitudes and subjective well-being.

To recognize the interplay between climate change and public health, this study examines the impact of sports organizations' environmental initiatives on members' subjective well-being (SWB) and climate change attitudes (CCA). Drawing on the theoretical tenets of pro-social behavior, organizational initiatives aiming at protecting and improving the natural environment can be viewed as altruistic. This altruism can in turn increase SWB. The analysis uses survey data from the 2022 Eurobarometer, including 27 European countries and 6311 members of different types of sports organizations. Seemingly unrelated regression models were employed to assess the associations of various environmental initiatives with members' SWB and CCA. The total number of initiatives and specific initiatives, such as promoting green energy and waste reduction, are positively correlated with members' CCA. However, there is no effect on SWB. Organizational environmental initiatives may shape members' attitudes towards climate change but do not seem to affect their SWB. This would suggest that environmental protection does not come at the expense of SWB. Thus, sports organizations represent a context to promote environmental protection along with public health.

Belief in divine (versus human) control of earth affects perceived threat of climate change

Religious characteristics are predictive of Americans’ skepticism toward climate-related science and policy. Though attributable to a variety of interrelated factors, we propose specific religious beliefs help explain the dynamic in part. Specifically, we theorize that belief in divine (versus human) control over Earth’s climate likely engenders skepticism toward scientific claims that human behavior is leading Earth toward environmental crisis. Regression analyses with national survey data (N = 5321) demonstrate that believing “God would not allow humans to destroy the Earth” is associated with lower concern about climate change. Next, a pre-registered survey experiment (N = 3345) finds that manipulating belief in God’s—vis-à-vis humans’—control of Earth’s climate reduced the perceived severity of climate change and need for policy intervention. Our manipulation also reduced demand for climate-related information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. These results establish an important causal link between a religious belief and climate change attitudes in the U.S. public.

Climate change attitudes and the world’s biggest CO2 emitters

Climate change attitudes and the world’s biggest CO2 emitters

KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: THE VIEW OF MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Sustainable consumption involves climate change adaptation. International organisations are emphasising and encouraging youth climate change preparation. This study examines undergraduate students' climate change adaptation knowledge and attitudes. A total of 384 undergraduate students from Universiti Malaya, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia responded to the survey. The findings showed a high level of knowledge and attitude among the students. The study also discovered significant and positive relationships between knowledge and attitude towards climate change. Furthermore, construct basic knowledge has a greater impact on climate change adaptation attitudes than risk perception. Their primary source of information is the internet. In light of these findings, internet information sources have an effect on students' knowledge and attitudes. This study provides an indicator of the youth's knowledge and attitude patterns, in order for policymakers and educational institutions to consider climate change adaptation more effectively.

Comparing attitudinal structures between political orientations: A network analysis of climate change attitudes

Research into climate change attitudes consistently and across countries finds ideologically and worldview-determined differences in threat perceptions and policy endorsements. To further our understanding of these ideological differences, the current study explores the underlying structure of climate attitudes across right- and left-oriented individuals. Based on survey data from a representative sample from Denmark (N = 1365) we deployed the Causal Attitude Network model to formalize attitudes as networks of interacting attitude elements. We compare the networks of different ideological groups and relate the observed patterns to previous findings and theories within the environmental and political psychology literatures. Overall, the two networks were found to be characterized by many similarities, for example, in global connectivity and patterns of node strength. Yet, the results also revealed differences in the most central nodes of right and left networks, as well as theoretically interesting differences in the predictors of important nodes. We discuss the implications of the findings for communication and engagement efforts.

Changing community climate change attitudes: Evidence from a community exhibit intervention

Engaging communities through exhibits displayed at community-oriented events is a longstanding practice in community activism that could prove valuable for shifting individual and collective behavior toward measures that can help reduce climate change. In this investigation we examined the effect of a climate change community exhibit that focused on four environmental issues: switching to electric vehicles, switching to community solar for residential electricity needs, reducing meat consumption, and supporting forest conservation and reforestation efforts. Participants from the greater Boston area (N = 125) were surveyed before and after attending the exhibit. Attending the exhibit increased participants' perceptions of how many members in their community engaged in action for each issue and how morally right community members thought addressing the issue was. Further, increases in how confident participants felt in engaging in the relevant actions, as well as in ease of engagement were also observed. Participants also expressed increased interest (albeit inconsistently so) in, and likelihood of, engaging in action for each issue. Across all issues, exposure to the exhibit also increased whether engaging in action was rated as an effective way to reduce climate change. Implications and future directions for interventions utilizing climate change exhibits are discussed.

Evaluating Climate Change Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors (KAB) in Agricultural Sciences and Technologies Education

The aim of this study is to determine the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (KAB) regarding climate change among undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled into the Agricultural Sciences and Technologies in Niğde province. The research involved 200 students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, encompassing Turkish and English speakers. Research data were obtained through a personal information form designed to assess students' knowledge levels, behaviors, and attitudes toward climate change. The survey consists of four sections measuring students' demographic characteristics, behavioral traits related to climate change, attitudes toward climate change, and knowledge about the subject. Descriptive statistics, including percentages for categorical variables and mean ± standard deviation for continuous variables, were used in data analysis to transparently illustrate the distribution of background variables such as age, gender, and education. Focusing on knowledge about climate change, 66% of students indicated that they attribute climate change to human activities. It was observed that students' awareness of environmental issues, specifically recycling, is at a rate of 22.5%. In conclusion, when examining the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of students are studied Agricultural Sciences and Technologies regarding climate change, the study highlights the need for more effective education and awareness programs on environmental issues.

Youth's climate consciousness: unraveling the Dengue-climate connection in Bangladesh.

Climate change affects the transmission of vector-borne diseases like dengue, posing a substantial public health threat. Bangladesh, with its favorable conditions for Dengue transmission, has experienced periodic outbreaks. This study explores the relationship between climate change knowledge, perceptions of the Dengue-climate link, and the associated factors among Bangladeshi youth. In the Dhaka district of Bangladesh, a cross-sectional study was conducted between September and October 2023, involving face-to-face interviews with 1,358 participants. Convenient (non-probability) sampling was utilized for participant selection. Data collection involved the administration of a semi-structured questionnaire encompassing informed consent, socio-demographic information, and inquiries pertaining to climate change-related knowledge (13 items) and perception (11 items). Data analysis utilized STATA (Version 15.0) and SPSS (Version 26.0). The mean scores for knowledge and perceptions were determined to be 7.10 ± 3.20 (out of 13) and 26.60 ± 4.12 (out of 33) respectively. Participants had a mean age of 22.02 ± 1.58 years. The study revealed that unmarried status, living in a nuclear family, being a non-smoker, good self-perception of physical health, regular sleep patterns, moderate social media usage, older age, unemployment, and daily media consumption are factors associated with higher knowledge and perception regarding the Dengue-climate change link. Moreover, a positive association was observed between knowledge of climate change and favorable attitudes toward the Dengue-climate connection. This study underscores the importance of tailored climate change education for youth in Bangladesh and highlights key variables influencing their knowledge and perceptions. Notably, there exists a positive association between climate change knowledge and favorable attitudes toward the Dengue-climate connection. These insights underscore the importance of targeted educational campaigns and policy interventions aimed at enhancing climate consciousness among the youth population, thereby fostering proactive measures to mitigate the impact of Dengue fever in the context of climate change.

Climate change anxiety, hurricane exposure, and climate change actions and attitudes: results from a representative, probability-based survey of US Gulf Coast residents

Exposure to climate change-related threats (eg, hurricanes) has been associated with mental health symptoms, including post-traumatic stress symptoms. Yet it is unclear whether climate change anxiety, which is understudied in representative samples, is a specific mental health threat, action motivator, or both, particularly in populations exposed to climate-change related disasters. We sought to examine the associations between exposure to hurricanes, climate change anxiety, and climate change actions and attitudes in a representative sample of US Gulf Coast residents. This study used data from a 5-year, representative, prospectively assessed, probability-based, longitudinal cohort sample of residents in Texas and Florida (USA) exposed to exogenous catastrophic hurricanes rated category 3 or greater. Participants were adults aged 18 years and older and were initially recruited from the Ipsos KnowledgePanel in the 60 h before Hurricane Irma (Sept 8-11, 2017). Relationships between climate change anxiety, hurricane exposure, hurricane-related post-traumatic stress symptoms, general functional impairment, and climate change-related individual-level actions (eg, eating a plant-based diet and driving more fuel efficient cars) and collective-level actions (eg, petition signing and donating money) and climate change action attitudes were evaluated using structural equation modelling. The final survey was completed by 1479 individuals (787 [53·2%] women and 692 [46·8%] men). Two climate change anxiety subscales (cognitive-emotional impairment and perceived experience of climate change) were confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. Mean values were low for both climate change anxiety subscales: cognitive-emotional impairment (mean 1·31 [SD 0·63], range 1-5) and perceived climate change experience (mean 1·67 [SD 0·89], range 1-5); these subscales differentially predicted outcomes. The cognitive-emotional impairment subscale did not significantly correlate with actions or attitudes; its relationship with general functional impairment was attenuated by co-occurring hurricane-related post-traumatic stress symptoms, which were highly correlated with general functional impairment in all three models (all p<0·0001). The perceived climate change experience subscale correlated with climate change attitudes (b=0·57, 95% CI 0·47-0·66; p<0·0001), individual-level actions (b=0·34, 0·21-0·47; p<0·0001), and collective-level actions (b=0·22, 0·10-0·33; p=0·0002), but was not significantly associated with general functional impairment in any of the final models. Hurricane exposure correlated with climate change-related individual-level (b=0·26, 0·10-0·42; p=0·0011) and collective-level (b=0·41, 0·26-0·56; p<0·0001) actions. Expanded treatment for post-traumatic stress symptoms after disasters could help address climate change-related psychological distress; experiences with climate change and natural hazards could be inflection points to motivate action. National Science Foundation and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Examining contrasting influences of extreme weather experiences on individual climate activism

Researchers have examined how extreme weather experiences influence climate change attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, with mixed results. However, limited research has explored how extreme weather experiences may affect climate-related perceptions and behaviors among climate activists. Given the significant role activism plays in climate action, as well as frequent dropout and burnout among activists, it is important to understand to what extent, how, and why extreme weather may influence individual climate activism. This study explores reported influences of extreme weather experiences on climate perceptions and activism through interviews with 33 Australian adults who directly experienced bushfires and previously engaged in climate activism. All participants felt more vulnerable to climate change after experiencing bushfires. Fifteen participants (45%) increased their activism; 13 (39%) maintained the same activism level; and 5 (15%) decreased their activism. Participants who increased their activism sought to share their bushfire stories with news media, policymakers, and through artistic projects. Climate activism helped several participants cope with bushfire-related trauma, whereas several other participants reduced their activism because their experiences undermined self-efficacy (perception that one can act on climate change). These findings show the divergent ways individuals may respond to extreme weather experiences and have implications for climate action mobilization strategies.

Public perceptions of climate change during the COVID-19 crisis: Evidence from social media data in China

An emerging body of literature highlights the impact of crises and disasters in shaping climate change attitudes, yet the findings have been equivocal. The outbreak and spread of COVID-19 have posed great threats worldwide, but it also provides opportunities to explore the impact of crises in natural settings. Based on social media data in the early stage of the emergence of the pandemic in China, this study addresses the controversy and examines the extent to which the outburst of COVID-19 influences climate change attitudes. Frequency and popularity analyses of the posts suggest that public attention shifted toward the devastating impacts of the epidemic, whereas sentiment analyses indicate that the posts contain a more positive sentiment as people are more proactive in taking action to address climate change after the coronavirus outbreak. This study provides us with a more nuanced understanding of the underlying influencing factors of climate change attitudes and evaluates the implications of the pandemic and other uncertain events on environmental concerns.

Age differences in the context of climate change: Does exposure to a fake consensus statement make a difference?

The present study examined whether people of different age groups respond differently to a true versus fake consensus statement concerning climate change. In total, 309 participants were randomly exposed to a true consensus statement about climate change and 311 were exposed to a false statement. Subsequently, respondents were asked to respond to items about attitudes, feelings, and behavioral intentions concerning climate change. Compared with younger people, older persons are significantly more concerned about climate change, more likely to report that climate change is real and more willing to take climate change action. Nevertheless, older persons also are more likely to be willing to post both fake and truthful information about climate change, thus, possibly serving as spreaders of both fake and truthful information. The findings suggest that it is younger people who will benefit from further education about climate change and older people who may benefit from education about the spread of information in social media. Our findings also suggest that simply providing individuals with consensus information has only limited impact on their climate change attitudes, feelings and behavioral intentions.

Systematic mapping of climate and environmental framing experiments and re-analysis with computational methods points to omitted interaction bias

Ambitious climate policy requires acceptance by millions of people whose daily lives would be affected in costly ways. In turn, this requires an understanding of how to get the mass public on board and prevent a political backlash against costly climate policies. Many scholars regard ‘framing’, specially tailored messages emphasizing specific subsets of political arguments to certain population subgroups, as an effective communication strategy for changing climate beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. In contrast, other scholars argue that people hold relatively stable opinions and doubt that framing can alter public opinion on salient issues like climate change. We contribute to this debate in two ways: First, we conduct a systematic mapping of 121 experimental studies on climate and environmental policy framing, published in 46 peer-reviewed journals and present results of a survey with authors of these studies. Second, we illustrate the use of novel computational methods to check for the robustness of subgroup effects and identify omitted interaction bias. We find that most experiments report significant main and subgroup effects but rarely use advanced methods to account for potential omitted interaction bias. Moreover, only a few studies make their data publicly available to easily replicate them. Our survey of framing researchers suggests that when scholars successfully publish non-significant effects, these were typically bundled together with other, significant effects to increase publication chances. Finally, using a Bayesian computational sparse regression technique, we offer an illustrative re-analysis of 10 studies focusing on subgroup framing differences by partisanship (a key driver of climate change attitudes) and show that these effects are often not robust when accounting for omitted interaction bias.

Faith in Science: Religion and Climate Change Attitudes in the Middle East

Abstract The Middle East is facing many challenges because of climate change: extreme heat, recurring droughts, water salinization, and more. Yet little is known about how people in the region perceive the threat of climate change or about the factors associated with perceiving it as more or less of a threat. This study utilizes the Arab Barometer surveys and examines how religion influences climate change perceptions among 13,700 people across twelve countries. Contrary to arguments in the literature, Muslims tend to be less concerned about climate change compared to Christians. Yet all Middle Easterners with a strong sense of religiosity are more concerned about climate change relative to their counterparts. Political attitudes also matter. Religious Muslims who endorse Islamist government are less concerned than secular Muslims, suggesting a “culture war” on the issue. These findings show that religion exerts a nuanced and unexpected influence on how people evaluate the climate change crisis.

Climate action on the mind: a longitudinal study of Americans’ psychosocial drivers of high-impact climate behaviors

Abstract Widespread adoption of high-impact climate-positive behaviors can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To motivate these behaviors, social scientists and policymakers need to understand people’s psychological and social (psychosocial) factors to create an environment that encourages widespread adoption. Past longitudinal survey research has focused on tracking changes in broad climate change beliefs and attitudes, risk perceptions, and climate policy support. While behavioral and psychological research has identified key beliefs and attitudes as enabling conditions, this work tends to study a single snapshot in time, often in a narrow population, not allowing for the identification of trends. In the present paper, we launch the annual Climate Action on the Mind (CAM) longitudinal survey, which aims to track key psychosocial factors shown to be important enablers of climate behaviors. Our work focuses on behaviors relevant to households in the United States, such as installing solar panels and driving an electric vehicle. The paper introduces the first two waves of the CAM survey from December 2021 (n = 2031) and June 2023 (n = 1528), quota-matched to represent the US adult population on key demographics. Our research offers novel insights into how the enabling psychological conditions for high-impact climate-positive behaviors are shifting in the United States, helping to inform the development of future communication strategies, interventions, and climate policy.

Polarisation of Climate and Environmental Attitudes in the United States, 1973-2022

Since the early 1990s, increasing political polarisation is among the greatest determinants of individual-level environmental and climate change attitudes in the United States. But several patterns remain unclear: are historical patterns of polarisation largely symmetrical (equal) or is rather asymmetrical (where one set of partisans shifts more than others)? How have polarisation patterns have changed over time? How generalizable are polarization patterns across different environmental and climate change attitudes? We harmonised four unique sets of historical, pooled cross-sectional survey data from the past 50 years to investigate shifts across seven distinct measures of citizen environmental and climate change attitudes. We find that contemporary attitudes are polarised symmetrically, with Democrats (higher) and Republicans (lower) attitudes are equidistant from the median. But the historical trends in polarisation differ by attitudes and beliefs. In particular, we find evidence of two distinct historical patterns of asymmetric polarisation within environmental and climate change attitudes: first, with Republicans becoming less pro-environmental, beginning in the early 1990s, and second, a more recent greening of Democratic environmental attitudes since the mid-2010s. Notably, recent increases in pro-environmental attitudes within Democrats is a potentially optimistic finding, providing opportunities towards overcoming decades-long inertia in climate action. These findings provide a foundation for further research avenues into the factors shaping increased pro-environmental attitudes within Democrats.

A scoping review of current climate change and vector-borne disease literacy and implications for public health interventions

Climate literacy assesses general understanding of climate, climate change, and its effects on the environment as well as human health. Despite vast scientific evidence to support climate change and its associated consequences, particularly with regards to vector-borne diseases, climate change knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among the general population is relatively poor. In this study, we conducted a thorough review of the current literature to evaluate the scope of global climate and health literacy studies and identify key areas for improvement. We found that very few climate and health literacy studies were based in low- and middle-income countries, and those that were did not make mention of significant regional climate change impacts and specifically those that increase mosquito-borne disease transmission in high-risk areas. We also noted that of the twenty-three studies included in our final review, most focused their assessments on general climate and climate change knowledge, and not on literacy of the relationships between climate change and environmental impacts or subsequent health outcomes. Our findings make it clear that moving forward, there is a major need for climate and health literacy research to expand upon existing climate literature to include additional assessments of the relationships between certain climate change impacts and infectious diseases in particular, as well as to make available a more comprehensive overview of climate and health information to the public in the future.