Conservatives and liberals may be at odds on environmental issues, but a new study shows that framing the need to address climate change as patriotic and necessary to preserve the American “way of life” can increase belief in climate change and support for environmental policies among both groups.
https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2024/september/framing-climate-action-as-patriotic-and-status-quo-friendly-incr.html
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I’ve linked to the press release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2405973121
From the linked article:
Conservatives and liberals may be at odds in their views on environmental issues, but a new psychology study shows that framing the need to address climate change as patriotic and as necessary to preserve the American “way of life” can increase belief in climate change and support for pro-environmental policies among both groups.
“Framing climate change action as a way to protect and preserve patriotic values and familiar ways of life can improve climate awareness and motivate action across the American political spectrum,” says Katherine Mason, a New York University doctoral student and the lead author of the study, which appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). “This approach encourages people to see climate action as a way to celebrate and sustain cherished cultural traditions, rather than having to relinquish or replace them.”
The findings, which stem from an experiment involving 50,000 participants across 60 countries, showed such messaging had similar, though smaller, effects among liberals in some nations, including France and Chile, and among conservatives in Israel and Chile. However, it backfired among conservatives in other nations—notably, Belgium, Germany, and Russia.
Among US participants, those who read the patriotic/status quo message showed increased belief in climate change, more support for pro-environmental policies, and a greater willingness to share climate information on social media relative to the control group. Moreover, this message was similarly effective for conservatives and liberals.
It’s unfortunate that the fact climate change is dangerous for society, and that it’s a naturally occurring thing we have to deal with one way or another (even if we weren’t exacerbating it), only matters to some people if you can trick them into caring about it.
The issue impacts everyone, and will impact everyone’s offspring and grand-offspring and such. That should be reason enough to care.