TY - JOUR
T1 - Public division about climate change rooted in conflicting socio-political identities
AU - Bliuc, Ana-Maria
AU - McGarty, Craig
AU - Thomas, Emma
AU - Lala, Girish
AU - Berndsen, Mariette
AU - Misajon, RoseAnne
PY - 2015/2/25
Y1 - 2015/2/25
N2 - Of the climate science papers that take a position on the issue, 97% agree that climate change is caused by humans, but less than half of the US population shares this belief. This misalignment between scientific and public views has been attributed to a range of factors, including political attitudes, socio-economic status, moral values, levels of scientific understanding, and failure of scientific communication. The public is divided between climate change 'believers' (whose views align with those of the scientific community) and 'sceptics' (whose views are in disagreement with those of the scientific community). We propose that this division is best explained as a socio-political conflict between these opposing groups. Here we demonstrate that US believers and sceptics have distinct social identities, beliefs and emotional reactions that systematically predict their support for action to advance their respective positions. The key implication is that the divisions between sceptics and believers are unlikely to be overcome solely through communication and education strategies, and that interventions that increase angry opposition to action on climate change are especially problematic. Thus, strategies for building support for mitigation policies should go beyond attempts to improve the public' s understanding of science, to include approaches that transform intergroup relations.
AB - Of the climate science papers that take a position on the issue, 97% agree that climate change is caused by humans, but less than half of the US population shares this belief. This misalignment between scientific and public views has been attributed to a range of factors, including political attitudes, socio-economic status, moral values, levels of scientific understanding, and failure of scientific communication. The public is divided between climate change 'believers' (whose views align with those of the scientific community) and 'sceptics' (whose views are in disagreement with those of the scientific community). We propose that this division is best explained as a socio-political conflict between these opposing groups. Here we demonstrate that US believers and sceptics have distinct social identities, beliefs and emotional reactions that systematically predict their support for action to advance their respective positions. The key implication is that the divisions between sceptics and believers are unlikely to be overcome solely through communication and education strategies, and that interventions that increase angry opposition to action on climate change are especially problematic. Thus, strategies for building support for mitigation policies should go beyond attempts to improve the public' s understanding of science, to include approaches that transform intergroup relations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84923878658&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/nclimate2507
DO - 10.1038/nclimate2507
M3 - Article
SN - 1758-678X
VL - 5
SP - 226
EP - 229
JO - Nature Climate Change
JF - Nature Climate Change
IS - 3
ER -