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A 27-country test of communicating the scientific consensus on climate change

pmid: 39187712
pmc: PMC11493676
AbstractCommunicating the scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is real increases climate change beliefs, worry and support for public action in the United States. In this preregistered experiment, we tested two scientific consensus messages, a classic message on the reality of human-caused climate change and an updated message additionally emphasizing scientific agreement that climate change is a crisis. Across online convenience samples from 27 countries (n = 10,527), the classic message substantially reduces misperceptions (d = 0.47, 95% CI (0.41, 0.52)) and slightly increases climate change beliefs (from d = 0.06, 95% CI (0.01, 0.11) to d = 0.10, 95% CI (0.04, 0.15)) and worry (d = 0.05, 95% CI (−0.01, 0.10)) but not support for public action directly. The updated message is equally effective but provides no added value. Both messages are more effective for audiences with lower message familiarity and higher misperceptions, including those with lower trust in climate scientists and right-leaning ideologies. Overall, scientific consensus messaging is an effective, non-polarizing tool for changing misperceptions, beliefs and worry across different audiences.
- Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands
- Barnard College United States
- University of Trento Italy
- University of Cambridge United Kingdom
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands
Male, Adult, Consensus, Climate Change, Sociologi (Exklusive socialt arbete, socialantropologi, demografi och kriminologi), 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Trust, Article, 501021 Social psychology, SDG 13 - Climate Action, Psychology, Humans, 13 Climate Action, Psykologi, communication, Communication, 42 Health Sciences, Bayesian modeling, Sociology (Excluding Social Work, Social Anthropology, Demography and Criminology), climate change, consensus, SDG 13 – Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz, Public Opinion, 52 Psychology, 501021 Sozialpsychologie, Female
Male, Adult, Consensus, Climate Change, Sociologi (Exklusive socialt arbete, socialantropologi, demografi och kriminologi), 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Trust, Article, 501021 Social psychology, SDG 13 - Climate Action, Psychology, Humans, 13 Climate Action, Psykologi, communication, Communication, 42 Health Sciences, Bayesian modeling, Sociology (Excluding Social Work, Social Anthropology, Demography and Criminology), climate change, consensus, SDG 13 – Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz, Public Opinion, 52 Psychology, 501021 Sozialpsychologie, Female
citations This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).10 popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.Average influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).Average impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.Top 10%
