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A toolkit for understanding and addressing climate scepticism

Author

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  • Matthew J. Hornsey

    (University of Queensland)

  • Stephan Lewandowsky

    (University of Bristol
    University of Western Australia)

Abstract

Despite over 50 years of messaging about the reality of human-caused climate change, substantial portions of the population remain sceptical. Furthermore, many sceptics remain unmoved by standard science communication strategies, such as myth busting and evidence building. To understand this, we examine psychological and structural reasons why climate change misinformation is prevalent. First, we review research on motivated reasoning: how interpretations of climate science are shaped by vested interests and ideologies. Second, we examine climate scepticism as a form of political followership. Third, we examine infrastructures of disinformation: the funding, lobbying and political operatives that lend climate scepticism its power. Guiding this Review are two principles: (1) to understand scepticism, one must account for the interplay between individual psychologies and structural forces; and (2) global data are required to understand this global problem. In the spirit of optimism, we finish by describing six strategies for reducing the destructive influence of climate scepticism.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew J. Hornsey & Stephan Lewandowsky, 2022. "A toolkit for understanding and addressing climate scepticism," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(11), pages 1454-1464, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:6:y:2022:i:11:d:10.1038_s41562-022-01463-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01463-y
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    Cited by:

    1. Göral, Elif & Hannum, Christopher M., 2024. "The effect of moral framing on attitudes towards offshore wind farms in Turkey," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    2. Samuel Pearson & Matthew J. Hornsey & Saphira Rekker & Belinda Wade & Chris Greig, 2024. "Publicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(5), pages 1-16, May.
    3. Kevin Winter & Matthew J. Hornsey & Lotte Pummerer & Kai Sassenberg, 2024. "Public agreement with misinformation about wind farms," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Tobia Spampatti & Ulf J. J. Hahnel & Evelina Trutnevyte & Tobias Brosch, 2024. "Psychological inoculation strategies to fight climate disinformation across 12 countries," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(2), pages 380-398, February.
    5. Matias Spektor & Guilherme N. Fasolin & Juliana Camargo, 2023. "Climate change beliefs and their correlates in Latin America," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Bojana Većkalov & Sandra J. Geiger & František Bartoš & Mathew P. White & Bastiaan T. Rutjens & Frenk Harreveld & Federica Stablum & Berkan Akın & Alaa Aldoh & Jinhao Bai & Frida Berglund & Aleša Brat, 2024. "A 27-country test of communicating the scientific consensus on climate change," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(10), pages 1892-1905, October.
    7. Dash, Raj & Bhattacharjee, Biplab, 2024. "Consumer uptake of energy-efficient appliances in India's online marketplace: An electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) process model," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).

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