Cultural Characters and Climate Change: How Heroes Shape Our Perception of Climate Science

Abstract

Objective. This research examines how narrative communication structures influence the public's perceptions of risk and policy preferences related to climate change.Methods. An Internet-based experiment is used to expose roughly 1,500 censusbalanced U.S. respondents to climate change information. Four experimental treatments are operationalized: a baseline control fact list and three culturally nuanced narratives. Results. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis indicates that narrative structure, particularly through the hero character, plays a powerful role in shaping climate change perceptions of risk and policy preferences. Conclusion. Explanations of the public's perceptions of risk and climate change policy preferences should more explicitly account for the role of dominant climate narratives.. . . we have not even to risk adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have gone before us; the labyrinth is thoroughly known; we have only to follow the thread of the hero-path. And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence; where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.- Campbell (1949:18) There is a clear consensus in the scientific community that the average temperature of the Earth is increasing and that this increase is the result of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (mostly CO 2 ). For the overwhelming majority of scientists, such findings are a settled matter, representing mere convention (see, for example, Doran and Zimmerman, 2009;Oreskes, 2004), with many scientists now focusing their attention on the severity and timing of expected consequences. Many of their predictions can be quite alarming, forecasting

Making sense of complexity: the narrative policy framework and agenda setting

“…Recall that micro-level hypotheses posit that increases in transportation, breach, narrator trust, congruence, and characters are likely to influence audience members to agree with narrative content. Empirical tests support that narrative transportation (Jones, 2014), congruence (for example, McBeth, Lybecker, and Garner, 2010;Shanahan, Jones, and McBeth, 2011;Jones and Song, 2014;Lybecker, McBeth, and Kusko, 2013;Shanahan, Adams, and McBeth, 2013), and characters (Jones, 2010(Jones, , 2013 are effective in persuading individuals' policy preferences.…”

“…The NPF posits that the use of breach, transportation, congruence, trust, and characters in a policy narrative influence and shape an individual's understandings and perceptions of public policy. Predominantly applying quasi-experimental designs, several studies have tested and found support for hypotheses associated with these concepts (for example, Jones, 2013Jones, , 2014Jones and Song, 2014).…”

The Narrative Policy Framework: child or monster?

“…Findings at this level are promising. For example, the portrayal of policy narrative characters has been shown to have substantial influence on the preferences of citizens, elected officials and elites than scientific or technical information (see Jones 2014). In other experimental studies, the NPF has drawn on the insights of the cognitive sciences to show that stories packaged with language and symbolism recognized as coming from one's own culture have a powerful effect on how individuals process and remember scientific information embedded within the story (Jones and Song 2014).…”

How can we use the ‘science of stories’ to produce persuasive scientific stories?

“…Heroes are the engines of policy stories as they both generate and accumulate positive emotion. NPF research finds that people tend to like the hero more, and the more they like the hero, the more likely they are to be persuaded by the narrative's arguments and calls to action (Jones, 2014b;. Picking a hero that is congruent, trustworthy, and compelling is thus essential.…”