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Encountering climate change: ‘seeing’ is more than ‘believing’

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  • Joseph P. Reser
  • Graham L. Bradley
  • Michelle C. Ellul

Abstract

Individuals' direct exposure to and experience of climate change are arguably integral aspects of their risk perceptions, understandings, and engagement with the issue. Recent research investigating these experiences has thrown into sharp relief some fundamental considerations with respect to public risk perceptions and responses, in particular the extent to which such perceived encounters might reflect a priori beliefs and motivated reasoning. Findings to date are intriguing and compelling, both in regard to the escalating percentages of individuals who report having such personal encounters, and conclusions being drawn with respect to the nature, significance, and influence of such direct experience. These findings have also led to some intuitively reasonable but possibly problematic recommendations regarding policy and issue and behavioural engagement implications. A focus on underlying processes of experience and belief, oversimplified in terms of ‘seeing’ or ‘believing’, has however deflected attention from other issues such as the nature and contexts of individual climate change encounters, the clarity of the constructs and validity of the measures being used for ‘belief’ and ‘experience’, and the transactional and phenomenological nature of climate change encounters. There is nonetheless current and convergent evidence that perceived direct experience of environmental changes or events deemed to be manifestations of climate change influences psychological responses such as risk perception, acceptance, belief certainty, distress, and psychological and behavioural adaptation. These findings suggest that such experiences, for many, foster a contextualized and more personally meaningful realisation of what climate change portends, implies, and ultimately means, locally and globally. This article is categorized under: Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Perceptions of Climate Change

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph P. Reser & Graham L. Bradley & Michelle C. Ellul, 2014. "Encountering climate change: ‘seeing’ is more than ‘believing’," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(4), pages 521-537, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:wirecc:v:5:y:2014:i:4:p:521-537
    DOI: 10.1002/wcc.286
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    Cited by:

    1. Crispino, Marta & Loberto, Michele, 2024. "Do people pay attention to climate change? Evidence from Italy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 434-449.
    2. Hu, Saiquan & Jia, Xiao & Zhang, Xiaojin & Zheng, Xiaoying & Zhu, Junming, 2017. "How political ideology affects climate perception: Moderation effects of time orientation and knowledge," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 124-131.
    3. Islam, Moinul & Kotani, Koji & Managi, Shunsuke, 2024. "Nature dependence and seasonality change perceptions for climate adaptation and mitigation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 34-44.
    4. Mina Khodadad & Mohsen Sanei & Christian Narvaez-Montoya & Ismael Aguilar-Barajas, 2022. "Climatic Hazards and the Associated Impacts on Households’ Willingness to Adopt Water-Saving Measures: Evidence from Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, May.
    5. Julie Milovanovic & Tripp Shealy & Leidy Klotz & Eric J. Johnson & Elke U. Weber, 2022. "Pictures Matter: How Images of Projected Sea-Level Rise Shape Long-Term Sustainable Design Decisions for Infrastructure Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-16, March.
    6. Paul M. Lohmann & Andreas Kontoleon, 2023. "Do Flood and Heatwave Experiences Shape Climate Opinion? Causal Evidence from Flooding and Heatwaves in England and Wales," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(1), pages 263-304, October.
    7. Cécile Bazart & Raphaël Trouillet & Hélène Rey-Valette & Nicole Lautrédou-Audouy, 2020. "Improving relocation acceptability by improving information and governance quality/results from a survey conducted in France," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 157-177, May.

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