Personal Efficacy, the Information Environment, and Attitudes Toward Global Warming and Climate Change in the United States

Kellstedt, Paul M.; Zahran, Sammy; Vedlitz, Arnold

doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01010.x

Cited by 697 publications

(512 citation statements)

References 54 publications

(68 reference statements)

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“…Instead, motivation for the behavior is a necessary precursor for actual behavior change consistent with the information-motivation-behavioral skills model, in which knowledge and motivation both influence behavior (Fisher et al 1994;Fisher and Fisher 1992). More recent work found that knowledge does not consistently influence behavior (Misovich et al 2003) corroborated by other studies in a climate change context such as Kellstedt et al (2008) who find that climate change knowledge actually makes people less concerned and likely to act.…”

Section: Factors Affecting Stated and Actual Adoptionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Farmer’s intended and actual adoption of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies

2015

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A growing body of work aims to understand the impacts of climate change on agriculture as well as farmer's perceptions of climate change and their likeliness to adopt adapting and mitigating behaviors. Despite this, little work has considered how intention to adopt differs from actual adoption of climate change practices in agriculture. Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior we aim to assess whether different factors affect intended versus actual adoption of climate behaviors among farmers in New Zealand. Data were collected through mixed methods (37 interviews and a telephone survey of 490 farmers) in two regions of New Zealand 2010-2012. Through multiple regression models we test hypotheses related to the Theory of Planned Behavior around the role of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived capacity in affecting intended and actual adoption. Results suggest that there are different drivers of intended and actual adoption of climate change practices. Climate change attitudes and belief is only associated with intended not actual adoption. We find no evidence that subjective norms (climate change policy support) significantly influence either intention or actual adoption. Only perceived capacity and self-efficacy were important predictors of both Lincoln Research Centre, AgResearch Ltd., Lincoln, New Zealand intended and actual adoption. These results suggest a disconnect between intended and actual behavior change and that using data about intention as a guiding factor for program and policy design may not be prudent. Furthermore, fostering perceived capacity and self-efficacy for individuals may be crucial for encouraging both intended and actual adoption of climate adapting and mitigating behaviors.

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Section: Factors Affecting Stated and Actual Adoptionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Farmer’s intended and actual adoption of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies

2015

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“…Although it may be appropriate to criticize the media for not presenting the case for climate change more strongly and for not presenting the implications of individual behavior more clearly (28), scientists share at least some of the responsibility for the current state of affairs. For example, Fischhoff (29) recently argued that scientists may have failed the public by not providing information in a credible and comprehensible manner to facilitate better climate-related decisions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings

Attari

DeKay

Davidson³

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

559

386

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In a national online survey, 505 participants reported their perceptions of energy consumption and savings for a variety of household, transportation, and recycling activities. When asked for the most effective strategy they could implement to conserve energy, most participants mentioned curtailment (e.g., turning off lights, driving less) rather than efficiency improvements (e.g., installing more efficient light bulbs and appliances), in contrast to experts' recommendations. For a sample of 15 activities, participants underestimated energy use and savings by a factor of 2.8 on average, with small overestimates for low-energy activities and large underestimates for high-energy activities. Additional estimation and ranking tasks also yielded relatively flat functions for perceived energy use and savings. Across several tasks, participants with higher numeracy scores and stronger proenvironmental attitudes had more accurate perceptions. The serious deficiencies highlighted by these results suggest that well-designed efforts to improve the public's understanding of energy use and savings could pay large dividends.climate change | decision making | judgment | environmental behavior | anchoring A nthropogenic CO 2 emissions are contributing to global climate change (1) and could negatively impact our way of life if serious action is further delayed. The United States produces 21% of the world's CO 2 emissions, with 98% of US emissions attributed to energy consumption (2).According to Pacala and Socolow (3), increasing energy efficiency and curtailing activities that consume energy may be our cheapest options for stabilizing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations below a doubling of preindustrial concentrations. Following the analogy of stabilization wedges (3), Dietz et al. (4) devised a potential behavioral wedge, recommending specific behavioral changes, such as weatherization investments, to be adopted by US households to decrease their emissions. Vandenbergh et al. (5) identified seven actions, such as reducing automobile idling and substituting compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) for incandescent bulbs, that have the potential to achieve large emission reductions at a low cost to the government and with a net savings for individuals. In related work, Gardner and Stern (6) identified a short list of the most effective actions US households could take to decrease their contributions to climate change. They argued that by changing the selection and use of household and motor vehicle technologies, households could reduce their energy consumption by nearly 30%-without waiting for new technologies, making major economic sacrifices, or losing a sense of well-being. If households effectively implemented all of Gardner and Stern's recommended changes, US energy consumption would be reduced by approximately 11%. Similarly, Dietz et al. (4) estimated that behavioral interventions could reasonably achieve a 20% reduction in CO 2 emissions from household energy use (a 7.4% reduction in total US emissions) within 10 y.Gardner and...

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“…The public's issue with science is not necessarily ignorance (7). The public increasingly knows more than before about climate change's causes (8).…”

Section: Public Beliefs and Affectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gaining trust as well as respect in communicating to motivated audiences about science topics

Fiske

Dupree

2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

356

291

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Expertise is a prerequisite for communicator credibility, entailing the knowledge and ability to be accurate. Trust also is essential to communicator credibility. Audiences view trustworthiness as the motivation to be truthful. Identifying whom to trust follows systematic principles. People decide quickly another’s apparent intent: Who is friend or foe, on their side or not, or a cooperator or competitor. Those seemingly on their side are deemed warm (friendly, trustworthy). People then decide whether the other is competent to enact those intents. Perception of scientists, like other social perceptions, involves inferring both their apparent intent (warmth) and capability (competence). To illustrate, we polled adults online about typical American jobs, rated as American society views them, on warmth and competence dimensions, as well as relevant emotions. Ambivalently perceived high-competence but low-warmth, “envied” professions included lawyers, chief executive officers, engineers, accountants, scientists, and researchers. Being seen as competent but cold might not seem problematic until one recalls that communicator credibility requires not just status and expertise but also trustworthiness (warmth). Other research indicates the risk from being enviable. Turning to a case study of scientific communication, another online sample of adults described public attitudes toward climate scientists specifically. Although distrust is low, the apparent motive to gain research money is distrusted. The literature on climate science communicators agrees that the public trusts impartiality, not persuasive agendas. Overall, communicator credibility needs to address both expertise and trustworthiness. Scientists have earned audiences’ respect, but not necessarily their trust. Discussing, teaching, and sharing information can earn trust to show scientists’ trustworthy intentions.

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Personal Efficacy, the Information Environment, and Attitudes Toward Global Warming and Climate Change in the United States

Cited by 697 publications

References 54 publications

Farmer’s intended and actual adoption of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies

Farmer’s intended and actual adoption of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies

Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings

Gaining trust as well as respect in communicating to motivated audiences about science topics

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