(Press-News.org) The division between liberals and conservatives on both climate-change beliefs and related policy support is long-standing. However, the results of a newly released global experiment show that despite these differences, the two camps actually align when it comes to taking certain actions to combat climate change.
The study, led by researchers at New York University, finds that when given the opportunity, liberals and conservatives take action to address climate change at roughly the same levels—and that this is due to conservatives choosing to take action despite their climate-change beliefs rather than liberals failing to act on theirs.
“Our work shows a disconnect between beliefs and behaviors among conservatives when it comes to environmental matters while, at the same time, revealing common ground with liberals when it comes to taking action,” explains Madalina Vlasceanu, an assistant professor in NYU’s Department of Psychology who led the study, which is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Additionally, the researchers identified which messages—or interventions—can be effective in boosting beliefs in climate change and policy support among both conservatives and liberals.
“These results paint an optimistic picture for policymakers and climate activists in their efforts to influence public opinion on climate change and related policies,” says Michael Berkebile-Weinberg, an NYU doctoral student and the paper’s first author. “Several interventions were effective in altering beliefs and policy support across the ideological divide, in liberals and conservatives alike.”
However, the study’s authors caution that the impact of interventions was not uniform. For instance, framing certain actions as a climate change solution can backfire and decrease conservatives’ engagement. For example, informing conservatives that a majority of Americans are concerned about the climate crisis led to them planting fewer trees.
“This suggests that interventions aimed at increasing conservatives’ pro-environmental behaviors should not involve their climate-change beliefs,” explains Danielle Goldwert, the study’s co-lead author and an NYU doctoral student. “Instead, framing climate-change actions as beneficial for ideologically consistent reasons might be more effective in spurring action.”
The findings stem from an experiment involving 50,000 participants across 60 countries, including Algeria, China, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, and the United States.
To capture the participants’ views on climate change, the researchers asked a series of questions pertaining to beliefs in climate change (e.g., “Human activities are causing climate change.”) and support for related policies (e.g., “I support increasing the number of charging stations for electric vehicles.”).
In these measures, the participants around the globe showed significant political polarization, with liberals expressing belief in climate change and supporting climate-change policies to a far greater extent than conservatives—a finding consistent with previous surveys.
The researchers then tested participants’ engagement with actions aimed at addressing climate change. But prior to asking related questions, the researchers posed a series of messages, or interventions, to the participants in order to test their impact. These interventions included, among others, the following:
Emphasizing scientific consensus on climate change (i.e., “Ninety-nine percent of expert climate change scientists agree that the Earth is warming, and climate change is happening, mainly because of human activity.”).
Touting the effectiveness of collective action in addressing climate change by providing examples of successful climate actions people took in the past.
Asking participants to write a letter to a socially close child, as a member of the future generation.
Asking participants to write a letter to a future generation member outlining what climate actions they are undertaking today to make the planet livable in 2055.
To gauge the effectiveness of these interventions, the paper’s authors tested participants’ support for several climate-related views, policies, and actions (e.g., “Climate change poses a serious threat to humanity,” “I support raising carbon taxes on gas/fossil fuels/coal,” participation in a tree-planting initiative). Finally, the paper’s authors gauged the desire of participants to share climate-mitigation information on social media: “Did you know that removing meat and dairy for only two out of three meals per day could decrease food-related carbon emissions by 60%?” The data were collected between July 2022 and May 2023.
The researchers found that three interventions—emphasizing effective collective actions, writing a letter to a future generation member, and writing a letter from the future self—boosted the climate beliefs and policy support of both liberals and conservatives. Notably, emphasizing scientific consensus stimulated liberals’ willingness to participate in a tree-planting initiative, but this message had no impact on conservatives.
“Different interventions are more effective at increasing liberals’ and conservatives’ climate awareness and action, so practitioners and policy makers can use our results to administer the most effective intervention for their target audience,” explains Vlasceanu.
The study’s other authors were Kimberly Doell, senior scientist at the University of Vienna, and Jay Van Bavel, an NYU professor of psychology.
END
Liberals and conservatives differ on climate change beliefs—but are relatively united in taking action
Global experiment reveals surprising common ground in environmental activism
2024-05-09
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Biogeographical evidence shows trickster animal folklore limited by environmental factors
2024-05-09
Humans have the capacity to imagine civilizations and creatures that have never existed, and our language reflects that ability. It would therefore be understandable if the stories we tell ourselves stretched beyond the bounds of local ecology. However, research has shown that many cultural artifacts and ideas are strongly affected by environmental factors.
Researchers in Japan wanted to know if the biogeography of a region could constrain motifs in animal folklore. To do this, they studied the distribution of animal trickster folklore against the distribution of the animal the folklore ...
Researchers harness blurred light to 3D print high quality optical components
2024-05-09
WASHINGTON — Canadian researchers have developed a new 3D printing method called blurred tomography that can rapidly produce microlenses with commercial-level optical quality. The new method may make it easier and faster to design and fabricate a variety of optical devices.
“We purposely added optical blurring to the beams of light used for this 3D printing method to manufacture precision optical components,” said Daniel Webber from the National Research Council of Canada. “This enables production of optically smooth surfaces.”
In Optica, Optica Publishing Group’s journal for high-impact research, these researchers demonstrate the new method by using ...
Older adults with aggressive blood cancer are responsive to treatment and show prolonged survival
2024-05-09
(WASHINGTON, May 9, 2024) – Standard of care treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is safe and effective for adults over 80, according to a study published in Blood Neoplasia. For roughly a quarter of patients, this treatment can durably prolong survival.
AML is an aggressive and often deadly form of blood cancer that can be difficult to treat. For older adults with AML, the conventional treatment consists of a medication called venetoclax combined with a hypomethylating agent (HMA), also known as VEN-HMA. AML treatment is often intensive and can significantly suppress the immune system ...
Redesigning healthcare: Integrating social care into a safety net health system
2024-05-09
INDIANAPOLIS -- Neighborhoods of high need are where investment in social care offers the best opportunities to improve health. Screening for social determinants of health is comparatively easy, but building the infrastructure to meet needs occurring outside the formal healthcare system is quite difficult. Few health systems have achieved more than even partial integration of social care into routine patient care.
In a case study of pioneering social care provided by Eskenazi Health, a safety net health system located in Indianapolis, ...
Discovery made into which children will outgrow their peanut allergy
2024-05-09
Australian researchers have discovered how changes in antibody levels over time can predict which children are likely to outgrow their peanut allergy.
The research, led by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne and published in Allergy, found two thirds of children with a peanut allergy remain allergic by the age of 10. But for those who did naturally outgrow their allergy, the majority achieved this by six years old.
The study was the first to use antibodies as biomarkers to identify persistent or a resolved ...
Princeton physicists reveal the microscopic basis of a new form of quantum magnetism
2024-05-09
By Tom Garlinghouse for the Princeton University Department of Physics
Not all magnets are the same. When we think of magnetism, we often think of magnets that stick to a refrigerator’s door. For these types of magnets, the electronic interactions that give rise to magnetism have been understood for around a century, since the early days of quantum mechanics. But there are many different forms of magnetism in nature, and scientists are still discovering the mechanisms that drive them.
Now, physicists ...
Oikopleura who? Species identity crisis in the genome community
2024-05-09
When two animals look the same, eat the same, behave the same way, and live in similar environments, one might expect that they belong to the same species.
However, a tiny zooplankton skimming the ocean surfaces of microscopic food particles challenges this assumption. Researchers from Osaka University, University of Barcelona and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have analyzed the genome of Oikopleura dioica from the Seto Inland Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific Ocean around the Okinawa Islands, and in doing so, they have raised numerous questions about speciation and the role of gene location in ...
Developed compiler acceleration technology for quantum computers
2024-05-09
[Highlights]
- Developed a new compilation method to generate optimal sequences to be executed on quantum computers
- The new method is based on a probabilistic approach and reduces the time to search for the optimal sequence by several orders of magnitude.
- Expected to contribute to quantum information processing at quantum nodes that support the quantum internet
[Abstract]
The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.), RIKEN (President: GONOKAMI Makoto, Ph.D.), Tokyo University of Science (President: Dr. ISHIKAWA Masatoshi), and the University of Tokyo (President: FUJII Teruo, Ph.D.) succeeded ...
Report: Governments falling short on promises of effective biodiversity protection
2024-05-09
WASHINGTON— A new analysis of the world’s largest 100 marine protected areas (MPAs) published today in Conservation Letters suggests that governments are falling short on delivering the promise of effective biodiversity protection due to slow implementation of management strategies and failure to restrict the most impactful activities.
The assessment, titled “Ocean protection quality is lagging behind quantity: Applying a scientific framework to assess real marine protected area progress ...
Study shows how night shift work can raise risk of diabetes, obesity
2024-05-09
Just a few days on a night shift schedule throws off protein rhythms related to blood glucose regulation, energy metabolism and inflammation, processes that can influence the development of chronic metabolic conditions.
The finding, from a study led by scientists at Washington State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, provides new clues as to why night shift workers are more prone to diabetes, obesity and other metabolic disorders.
“There are processes tied to the master biological clock in our brain that are saying that day ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
New study reveals polymers with flawed fillers boost heat transfer in plastics
Signs identified that precede sudden arrhythmic death syndrome in young people
Discovery of bacteria's defence against viruses becomes a piece of the puzzle against resistance
Pre-eclampsia is associated with earlier onset and higher incidence of cardiovascular risk factors
Warwick astronomers discover doomed pair of spiralling stars on our cosmic doorstep
Soil conditions significantly increase rainfall in world’s megastorm hotspots
NK cells complexed with bispecific antibody yield high response rates in patients with lymphoma
Planetary health diet and mediterranean diet associated with similar survival and sustainability benefits
Singapore launches national standard to validate antimicrobial disinfectant products
Molecular stool test could improve detection of tuberculosis in adults with HIV
Suspected fibrocartilaginous embolus in Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus)
Enhancing heat transfer using the turbulent flow of viscoelastic fluids
Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue
UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’
New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening
Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas
Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition
CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves
Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam
Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand
Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch
New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed
New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations
Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency
How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads
Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids
Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation
Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria
Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options
Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity
[Press-News.org] Liberals and conservatives differ on climate change beliefs—but are relatively united in taking actionGlobal experiment reveals surprising common ground in environmental activism