Belief In Global Warming Research Articles

Abnormal temperature and retail investors’ trading behavior

Growing attention is being directed toward the influence of climate risks on financial markets. This paper reveals that individual investors in the Chinese stock market have integrated climate risk into their investment decisions. Abnormally high temperatures stimulate individual investors' belief in global warming, which in turn affect their stock selection preferences. During periods of abnormally high local temperatures, we observe a shift in individual investors' assets from high-emission companies to low-emission companies. This behavior is driven by both firm valuations and ethical considerations, with evidence of synchronization between stock prices and investor actions.

Environmental Self-Identity and Pro-Environmental Behavior in Climate Change Issue: Mediation Effect of Belief in Global Warming and Guilty Feeling

There are several arguments about the role of identity factors behind someone’s pro-environmental behavior (PEB) encountering climate change. The authors assumed other factors might explain the correlation between identity factors and PEB. This study aims to examine the mediating effect of belief in global warming and guilty feeling on the correlation between environmental self-identity and pro-environmental behavior related to climate change issues. We conducted a cross-sectional survey involving 202 university students selected using the purposive sampling method. Using multiple mediators of model 4 from PROCESS Macro Hayes, the result shows that environmental self-identity is the most decisive variable in predicting PEB. Belief in global warming is also a significant PEB predictor, while the guilty feeling is insignificant. The mediation model analysis showed that belief in global warming partly mediated the correlation between environmental self-identity and PEB, and the guilty feeling was not a significant mediator. This finding explains that self-identity as an environmentalist is directly related to PEB, or it could also be mediated through the belief in global warming. This study implies that encouraging students to be pro-environmentalist and developing the belief in current climate change is essential to increase students’ PEB.

Television News, Political Comedy, Party, and Political Knowledge in Global Warming Belief: Evidence From a Large-Scale Panel Survey

Secondary analysis of panel data found, after controlling for prior belief and many covariates, that 2011 Fox News viewing was negatively related to belief in global warming in 2016 and 2019, while MSNBC, broadcast news, and political comedy viewing in 2016 and CNN in 2019 had positive relationships. Partisan belief gaps in 2016 widened with CNN viewing and narrowed with viewing broadcast news, Fox News (especially with higher knowledge) and MSNBC (especially with lower knowledge), while political comedy viewing was associated both with wider (with lower knowledge) and narrower gaps (with higher knowledge). Implications for practice and theory are discussed.

Global Warming's Six MTurks: A Secondary Analysis of a US-Based Online Crowdsourcing Market.

Using a global warming audience segmentation tool (Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY)) as a case study, we consider how public health can use consumer panels and online crowdsourcing markets (OCMs) in research. Through a secondary analysis, we aim to understand how consumer panels and OCMs are similar to or different from each other on demographics and global warming beliefs through SASSY, and how they compare to US Census estimates. With this information, researchers will understand public opinion of global warming in their sample, which is useful for many climate change initiatives. Neither the consumer panel (Ipsos) or OCM sample (MTurk) matched US estimates of population demographics. Both panels achieved similar SASSY segments, showing that even with diverse sampling frames, SASSY is a useful tool for understanding global warming sentiment. Compared to Ipsos, MTurk was younger (more Millennials and Generation X), had higher educational attainment, and lower income. Both panels were majority White, but Ipsos was more diverse than the unweighted MTurk. Ipsos had more respondents from the South whereas MTurk had more respondents from the West. Across the MTurk SASSY segment, there were no significant differences for the majority of demographic characteristics except for age; younger generations were more Alarmed or Concerned, and older generations were more Doubtful and Dismissive. Researchers interested in understanding their sample’s opinions of global warming should use SASSY and consider oversampling in key demographic variables if they intend to achieve a nationally representative and diverse sample.

Heat exposure and the climate change beliefs in a Desert City: The case of Phoenix metropolitan area

Beliefs in climate change are influenced by personal experiences and sociodemographic characteristics; yet justice considerations are often overlooked. We unveil the influence of these factors' on climate change beliefs in a large American city facing substantial climate change impacts, Phoenix, Arizona. Using the Phoenix Area Social Survey that includes data collected from (n = 806) households across fourteen cities in the Phoenix metropolitan area, we investigate what factors influence a belief that “global warming and climate change are already occurring.” Engaging adaptive capacity and justice literatures with climate belief models, we find that belief in climate change and global warming is positively associated with race specifically other than non-Hispanic Whites, high levels of education, personal experience with heat-related illnesses, and liberal beliefs. Widespread agreement about climate change is found within the scientific community, but general populations, especially in the USA, lag behind in accepting climate change. Critically, there are important justice dimensions absent in the existing literature relevant to understanding belief in and the impacts of climate change. Unpacking these factors could help inform policy makers and civil society organizations in their efforts to design more “just adaptation” strategies.

Purported green attitude vs. actual pro-environmental behaviour of Czech consumers

Green attitudes and consumer behaviour should correlate in order to achieve environmental objectives. Yet an attitude-behaviour gap exists, and there are many reasons why green attitudes are not proportionately translated into actual behaviour. This paper aims to describe the foundations of green attitudes of Czech consumers – their trust in solutions of companies, their belief in global warming and their willingness to join pro-environmental initiatives. Czech consumers were segmented by their gender, age and education. Based on a literature review and the results of this research, managerial implications were suggested in order to reduce this attitude-behaviour gap and help companies to communicate their green strategy more effectively. These fndings were framed by the previous research papers by the authors (Jaderná et al.) and should give an indication how to understand Czech consumers better.

Climate change physiology and psychology: What can we learn from a lab-based heat exposure experiment with young adults

Background Intensive heatwaves are more frequent globally due to changing climate. There is evidence that heat exposure can not only induce acute physiological reactions, but also potentially enhance climate change belief. Theories such as “visceral fit” attempt to explain the phenomenon by proposing that feeling warm physically strengthens the belief in global warming. However, no study has yet drawn the line between physiological and psychological reactions in a lab-based heating environment. Methods Sixty-five healthy freshmen (43 females, 22 males) from Nanjing, China participated the study with 30 dollars as reward for each. Participants stayed in a climate chamber for around 2 hours, during which time temperature in the chamber climbed up from 25℃ to 40℃. Physiological signals including heart rate variability, skin temperature, blood pressure and blood oxygen saturation were recorded during the experiment. Self-reported climate change belief and psychological distance of climate change were collected from each participant before, during and after the heat exposure. Physiological and psychological data were integrated to reveal their embedded links. Results Physiological indicators reflecting human body heat stress (such as skin temperature and blood pressure) increase gradually as the chamber got warmer. However, the psychological impact of heat exposure varies between participants a lot. On group average, heat exposure reduces the psychological distance of climate change and enhances the belief, but the effect is not significant enough and disappears immediately after the heat exposure. We are planning to use the individual physiological response and other socio-economic factors to explain the variation in the next stage. Conclusions Our findings so far do not fully support the hypothesis that heat experience increase climate change belief. Many confounding variables together with temperature may lead to the change of climate change perceptions. Taking physiological responses into consideration will enrich our understanding of the mechanism behind.

Personal Stories Can Shift Climate Change Beliefs and Risk Perceptions: The Mediating Role of Emotion

Sharing personal stories of how climate change is already harming people is a promising communication strategy to engage diverse and even skeptical audiences. Using two experiments, we test the effects of a radio story on the climate change beliefs and risk perceptions of political moderates and conservatives. The radio story, which aired on hundreds of stations across the U.S., is a North Carolina sportsman’s personal account of how climate change has already affected the places he loves. Both experiments found positive effects on global warming beliefs and risk perceptions. Additionally, Study 2 found these effects were mediated by emotional reactions of worry and compassion. These studies suggest personal stories can be a persuasive communication strategy.

Beliefs about others' global warming beliefs: The role of party affiliation and opinion deviance

People often misperceive other people's beliefs about global warming—for instance, underestimating the percentage of people who think global warming is happening. In the U.S., perceptions of others vary across political lines and interact with the extent to which partisans align or deviate from the views of their political ingroup. With an online sample of U.S. adults (N = 1214), we conduct a partial replication and extension of prior research on the relationship between global warming “opinion deviance” (i.e., taking a stance that conflicts with the prototypical views of one's ingroup) and perceptions of other people's views, using a different methodological approach. We found that, compared with partisans who align with the prototypical views of their ingroup (i.e., political party), opinion-deviant partisans consistently perceive a narrower partisan divide across several views (e.g., belief that global warming is happening, belief that it is human-caused, and support for climate policies), even when statistically controlling for self-reported opinion extremity. Additionally, opinion-deviant Republicans, more than opinion-aligned Republicans, perceive that more Republicans hold pro-climate views. Further, among both Republicans and Democrats, perceptions of pro-climate ingroup consensus correlates with both increased activism intentions and frequency of discussing global warming with family and friends. Our results support theoretical perspectives and research on opinion deviance showing that misperceptions of public opinion about global warming vary based on an interaction between an individual's party affiliation and their individual climate beliefs.

Addressing Global Warming Denialism

Abstract Despite the scientific consensus concerning the current causes and future effects of anthropogenic global warming, there has been little to no improvement in public opinion, attitudes, or behavior related to its mitigation. This article examines how different information conveyance strategies affect belief in global warming. Three experiments reveal that a fundamental understanding of the underlying mechanism of global warming—the greenhouse gas effect—is integral to belief in the existence of global warming. Specifically, the current research demonstrates that persuasive messaging incorporating an explanation of the mechanism (versus consequences) underlying global warming leads to belief change (study 1); that this effect is moderated by political orientation, such that the effect of mechanism-understanding on global warming belief is greater for conservatives (study 1, 2, and 3); that understanding of the mechanism underlying global warming affects willingness to engage in sustainable activities and buying socially conscious products (study 2); and that the effect persists over time and can influence actual donation behavior (study 3). Social, public policy, and marketing implications for this strategy are discussed.

ANES 2019 Pilot Study Methodology Report: Climate Change Mitigation Policy Opinion (GW1 & GW2)

MOTIVATION. Policy efforts designed to mitigate the social, economic, and environmental effects of climate change have received substantial attention in the 2020 primary election cycle. While previous ANES time series studies have done an excellent job assessing whether or not the public thinks that the climate is changing -- and whether or not those changes are human caused -- less work has assessed which types of mitigation and adaptation policies are most likely to earn popular support (and why). PROCEDURE. In this methodology report, I explore the distributions, internal consistency, correlates, and predictive validity of two new climate change mitigation policy items added to the 2020 ANES Pilot Study. I also explore the possibility that speeding, satisficing, non-response, and/or question ordering effects may have influenced data quality. RESULTS. I find that a slight majority of Americans support taking policy action to regulate corporate polluters, and/or to tighten fuel efficiency standards. Survey meta-data suggest that nearly all ANES respondents answered these items (low item non-response), and that the average respondent spent about about ten seconds attempting to answer each question. Middle response selection does not appear to be influenced by time spent engaging with the task. Meta-data also suggest that the order in which these questions were arrayed in a matrix table did not substantively influence response patterns. Additionally, I uncover high levels of internal consistency between the two items; indicating that the two questions can be reliably indexed into a single scale. Critically, I find that these items have strong construct and predictive validity. In multivariate models, I show that -- when treated as an outcome variable -- support for both policies is associated with increased belief in global warming, support for the role that experts play in the policymaking process, positive views toward science, and ideological liberalism; consistent with what previous research might lead us to expect. Moreover, I find that -- when treated as an independent variable -- support for increased fuel efficiency requirements is associated with whether or not respondents self-report owning (or having owned) a fuel efficient car. METHODOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT. The two climate change mitigation policy items included in the 2019 ANES Pilot Study demonstrate high levels of internal consistency, and appear to be well validated. Additionally, levels of item non-response were low, and response patterns appear uninfluenced by survey satisficing or question ordering effects.

Keep quiet on climate: Assessing public response to seven renewable energy frames in the Western United States

Support for renewable energy is often solicited by leveraging concern about environmental problems such as climate change. However, the environment – and especially climate change – is hyper-polarized amongst the American public, and non-environmental justifications for renewable energy may resonate more broadly. Using a 2016 mail survey of individuals living in five states in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S., we examine predictors of public approval of renewable energy usage, approval of a 20% renewable portfolio standard policy, and agreement with seven frames for renewable energy, of which four referenced the environment and three did not. We build upon previous research by analyzing geographic variation in frame agreement and by testing a religious environmental stewardship and resource-conservation frame. Results indicate high approval renewable energy but mixed support for the policy measure. Respondents on average agreed with all seven renewable energy frames, with energy security and energy diversification receiving the most support. Of the four environmental frames, air pollution and resource conservation had the most support, and the religion and climate frames had the least. We note variation by state, particularly on support for the policy measure. Political ideology and belief in human-caused global warming were consistent predictors, though gender, residence in a metro county, neoliberal ideology, and state of residence were also important. Overall, our results echo other research indicating that non-climate-based frames for renewable energy are likely to garner broader public support, but we suggest that the significance of this finding is particularly important in certain political and geographical contexts.

Elite Influence on Climate Change Skepticism: Evidence from Close Gubernatorial Elections

Many theorize that public opinion follows political elite on climate change skepticism, yet evidence of a causal link is lacking. I use a regression discontinuity design to establish the impact of the political party of a governor on constituents’ global warming beliefs. I find that, relative to the election of a Democratic governor, the election of a Republican governor significantly decreases the probability of a Republican constituent believing in global warming by approximately 11–15 percentage points; there is no significant impact on Democratic constituents. I also find a negative effect of a Republican governor on belief in human-caused global warming that does not differ by constituent partisan affiliation. These results provide one explanation for the increased political polarization in global warming beliefs despite the scientific consensus. Belief formation often plays an important role in political economy models, so these findings also have implications for implementing climate change policy.

Systems thinking as a pathway to global warming beliefs and attitudes through an ecological worldview

Prior research has found that systems thinking, the tendency to perceive phenomena as interconnected and dynamic, is associated with a general proenvironmental orientation. However, less is known about its relationship with public understanding of climate change and/or whether this relationship varies across people with different political views. Because climate change is a highly politicized issue, it is also important to understand the extent to which systems thinking can foster acceptance of climate science across political lines. Using an online sample of US adults (n = 1,058), we tested the degree to which systems thinking predicts global warming beliefs and attitudes (e.g., believing that global warming is happening, that it is human-caused, etc.), independent of an ecological worldview (i.e., the New Ecological Paradigm). We found that although systems thinking is positively related to global warming beliefs and attitudes, the relationships are almost fully explained by an ecological worldview. Indirect effects of systems thinking are consistently strong across political ideologies and party affiliations, although slightly stronger for conservatives and Republicans than for liberals and Democrats, respectively. We did not find evidence of the converse: Systems thinking does not seem to mediate the relationship between an ecological worldview and global warming beliefs and attitudes. Together, these findings suggest that systems thinking may support the adoption of global warming beliefs and attitudes indirectly by helping to develop an ecological ethic that people should take care of and not abuse the environment.

Political Parties and Climate Change Skepticism: Evidence from Close Gubernatorial Elections

Many theorize that public opinion follows political elite on climate change skepticism, yet evidence of a causal link is lacking. I use a regression discontinuity design to establish the impact of the political party of a governor on constituents’ global warming beliefs. I find that, relative to the election of a Democratic governor, the election of a Republican governor significantly decreases the probability of a Republican constituent believing in global warming by approximately 11 to 15 percentage points; there is no significant impact on Democratic constituents. I also find a negative effect of a Republican governor on belief in human-caused global warming that does not differ by constituent partisan affiliation. These results provide one explanation for the increased political polarization in global warming beliefs despite the scientific consensus. Belief formation often plays an important role in political economy models, so these findings also have implications for implementing climate change policy.

The influence of extractive activities on public support for renewable energy policy

Notable spatial variation in public opinion on climate change and energy policy has been demonstrated at various geographic scales (Howe et al., 2015). Understanding the source of this variation is useful for policymakers, energy developers, and utility providers in predicting how different locales may respond to newly proposed policies and energy developments, particularly those encouraging renewable energy. Using nationally representative survey data from 2008 to 2015, we employ hierarchical linear regression to examine variation in public support for renewable energy policy, focusing on how residence in areas with extractive activities may be related to attitudes toward renewable energy policy. We test the influence of several county-level indicators, including oil production, gas production, and economic dependence on the mining sector. We also test for individual factors, including political ideology, belief in anthropogenic climate change, and several sociodemographic variables. Results suggest that individuals living in both mining-dependent counties and counties with natural gas production are somewhat less likely to support renewable energy policies than individuals living outside such places. At the individual level, belief in anthropogenic global warming is the strongest predictor of renewable energy policy support, and liberal political ideology, being more educated, and being female are also positively associated with policy support.

Using the Six Americas Framework to Communicate and Educate about Global Warming

Agricultural communicators and extension educators need to make scientific information about global warming, a critical component of climate change, more salient to the general public to increase knowledge and to encourage people to take action to mitigate its effect; however, views on global warming are diverse. Scientists have repeatedly shown human activity is directly impacting the Earth’s climate. Despite this, a segment of the U.S. population (including politicians with a large amount of influence) are very vocal about their mistrust of climate science and lack of belief in global warming. States located on the coasts are affected by climate change the most where extreme weather events impact the safety of residents and agricultural production more often than those located inland. This research used the Six Americas framework to identify the diverse segments of believers/nonbelievers in Florida. Findings revealed 87% of respondents believed in climate change but are not actively engaged in its mitigation. Recommendations are offered on how agricultural communicators can reach diverse segments of the population and the role extension educators can play in their communities to turn difficult to understand climate science into something the public can understand and get behind.

The potential role of actively open-minded thinking in preventing motivated reasoning about controversial science

Ideologically motivated rejection of scientific evidence can be harmful to individuals and society, especially regarding consequential issues like climate change. A growing base of evidence suggests a cognitive style known as Actively Open-Minded Thinking (AOT) may reduce ideological rejection of scientific findings. In this article, we test the association between AOT and Americans' beliefs that global warming is mostly human-caused, a position supported by scientific consensus. We hypothesized that political conservatives with high AOT would be more likely than those with low AOT to acknowledge human-caused global warming. We predicted no such effect for liberals. Contrary to expectations, there was an unmoderated relationship between AOT and human causation belief. Higher levels of AOT were associated with increased likelihood of belief in human-caused global warming, regardless of participants' political ideology, scientific knowledge, or scientific media use. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

The Relationships among Actual Weather Events, Perceived Unusual Weather, Media Use, and Global Warming Belief Certainty in China

Abstract Previous research revealed that if individuals personally experience an unusual weather event as a result of global warming (vs no personal experience), they may hold higher belief certainty that global warming is happening and hence develop more favorable attitudes toward mitigation actions. However, much of the previous research focused on self-reported personal experience and global warming beliefs using cross-sectional surveys; reverse causality is thus possible. Based on weather records and survey data, the present research examined whether actual weather events can influence one’s perceptions of unusual weather and belief certainty. Severe Typhoon Fitow 2013, but not hot summer temperatures, directly predicted the Chinese perceived experience of unusual weather and indirectly predicted their belief certainty and attitudes toward mitigation behavior. However, the effects were relatively small. Possible explanations and implications for environmental education are discussed.

Global warming and sustainability: Understanding the beliefs of marketing faculty

Addressing climate change and sustainability topics in university research and teaching is paramount; however, the majority of marketing studies and courses do not examine these concepts. We investigate global warming beliefs and the sustainability values, attitudes, and beliefs of marketing faculty to understand how these may impact upon the state of sustainability research and teaching within the marketing academy. Using an online survey method, marketing faculty were surveyed from around the world. We found that belief in global warming was high and that this was affected by political ideology and research area. We also found broad perceptions of sustainability (i.e., beyond the environmental domain) in marketing faculty, possibly more so than previous higher education studies have revealed. However, a greater belief in market ideology to solve sustainability issues also exists. We found significant effects or associations between gender, political ideology, religion, expertise, region of current residence, and region of conferred highest degree on sustainability beliefs (definition, conception, and attitudes). Considering that we find a high belief in global warming and a broad and holistic understanding and positive attitude towards sustainability, questions remain about why only limited research and teaching has been done on the intersection between marketing and sustainability.