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Effects of consensus messages and political ideology on climate change attitudes: inconsistent findings and the effect of a pretest

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  • Sedona Chinn

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • P. Sol Hart

    (University of Michigan)

Abstract

There are inconsistent findings concerning the efficacy of consensus messages to persuade individuals to hold scientifically supported positions on climate change. In this experiment, we tested the impact of consensus messages on skeptics’ climate beliefs and attitudes and investigated how the decision to pretest initial climate beliefs and attitudes prior to consensus message exposure may influence results. We found that although consensus messages led individuals to report higher scientific agreement estimates, total effects on key variables were likely an artifact of study design; consensus messages only affected climate attitudes and beliefs when they were measured both before and after message exposure. In the absence of a pretest, we did not observe significant total effects of consensus messages on climate outcomes. These results highlight the limitations of consensus messaging strategies at reducing political polarization and the importance of experimental designs that mimic real-world contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Sedona Chinn & P. Sol Hart, 2021. "Effects of consensus messages and political ideology on climate change attitudes: inconsistent findings and the effect of a pretest," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 1-21, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:167:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s10584-021-03200-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-021-03200-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tatyana Deryugina & Olga Shurchkov, 2016. "The Effect of Information Provision on Public Consensus about Climate Change," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-14, April.
    2. Aaron McCright & Riley Dunlap & Chenyang Xiao, 2013. "Perceived scientific agreement and support for government action on climate change in the USA," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 511-518, July.
    3. Ulf J. J. Hahnel & Christian Mumenthaler & Tobias Brosch, 2020. "Emotional foundations of the public climate change divide," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 9-19, July.
    4. Dan M. Kahan & Hank Jenkins-Smith & Donald Braman, 2011. "Cultural cognition of scientific consensus," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 147-174, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Berkebile-Weinberg & Danielle Goldwert & Kimberly C. Doell & Jay J. Bavel & Madalina Vlasceanu, 2024. "The differential impact of climate interventions along the political divide in 60 countries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Anna Klas & Edward J. R. Clarke & Kelly Fielding & Matthew Mackay & Susanne Lohmann & Mathew Ling, 2022. "Investigating how economic and national identity loss messages impact climate change policy support," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 175(3), pages 1-24, December.

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