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Cited by 67Climate Change Communication and PerceptionEnvironmental Education and SustainabilityRisk Perception and Management

Developing a social psychology of climate change

Fielding, Kelly S., Hornsey, Matthew J., Swim, Janet K.·2014·European Journal of Social Psychology
DOI 10.1002/ejsp.2058
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Abstract

Despite overwhelming consensus among scientists about the reality of anthropogenic climate change (Bray, 2010; Oreskes, 2004), there remains significant reluctance on the part of citizens and politicians to take the action needed to address it. This resistance has been repeatedly identified in social research (Leiserowitz & Maibach, 2010; Leviston, Leitch, Greenhill, Leonard, & Walker, 2011; Lorenzoni & Pidgeon, 2006; McCright & Dunlap, 2011; Reser, Bradley, Glendon, Ellul, & Callaghan, 2012) and is mirrored by the lack of progress made by salient political summits (Rogelj et al., 2010). Perhaps as a response to this, scholarly journals and articles that are focused on climate change are growing. Natural scientists tell us that we know what needs to be done to avert dangerous climate change (IPCC, 2014), and economists tell us that delaying action in the short term will lead to much greater costs in the long term (Stern, 2007). Understanding public responses to climate change and developing solutions to catalyse action is a critical challenge for the social sciences, and we propose that the development and elaboration of a social psychology of climate change would be a cornerstone of such an approach. We do not make the claim that social psychology has all the answers but rather that the theories, models and research methods of social psychology can provide a powerful arsenal to complement the approaches of other disciplines. Researchers have already begun to apply social psychological theory and methods to the issue of climate change, and we highlight in the following sections examples of the insights that have flowed from this. We cannot assume, though, that our theories and findings will automatically generalise to the climate change context. As Moser (2010) has noted, there are unique dimensions to climate change that make it distinct from other environmental, risk and health issues: The causes of climate change are invisible to humans, the impacts are distal and it is complex and riddled with uncertainties. Modern urban humans are to some extent insulated from their physical environment, and the lags between the climate and social systems make it difficult for people to understand their role in influencing climate. These factors suggest the importance of developing a social psychology of climate change, empirically testing, integrating and refining existing theories and models to develop new frameworks. The notion that psychology can play a role in understanding and addressing climate change is not a new one. The American Psychological Association's Task Force on the interface between psychology and global climate change comprehensively detailed the ways in which psychological research can help to understand people's perceptions of the risks of climate change, the contribution of human behaviour to climate change, the psychosocial impacts of climate change, the ways in which people can adapt and cope with climate change and the psychological barriers that could limit climate change action (Swim et al., 2009, 2011). It is also not a new idea that social psychology can play an important role in understanding and addressing environmental problems and solutions (Clayton & Brook, 2005). Social psychology, specifically, has a long tradition of theory and research that is relevant to addressing key climate change questions. Attitudes, social cognition, persuasion and attitude change, social influence, and intragroup and intergroup behaviour, for instance, are fundamental foci for social psychology and have direct relevance for understanding the human and social dimensions of climate change. The time is ripe to understand the range of research that has been developing in social psychology on attitudes, beliefs and actions, to build upon these insights, and integrate them with knowledge from other sciences to develop models and theories indigenous to the climate change context. In the following section, we provide a brief overview of recent social psychological research that addresses three broad themes relevant to understanding and responding to climate change. These themes are as follows: (i) social psychological influences on climate change attitudes and beliefs; (ii) facilitators and barriers to climate change action; and (iii) changing climate change attitudes and behaviour. Although there is some overlap in these themes, as an organising principle they intuitively map on to key questions that arise in relation to climate change. Our aim is to highlight recent examples of social psychological research that provide interesting and important insights in relation to these themes. Swim, Markowitz, and Bloodhart (2012) have noted that much of the social psychological research on climate change has emerged since 2006; we focus in on the most recent of this research that has been published since 2010. We also outline how the studies in the special issue relate to these themes. We recognise that these are not the

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  • Motivation may be cultivated by increasing a sense of individual and collective efficacy through climate action, fostering a sense of altruism, and emphasising the positive effects of climate change mitigation.

    “The literature suggests that motivation may be cultivated by increasing a sense of individual and collective efficacy through climate action [46,49,50,53], fostering a sense of altruism [44], and emphasising the positive effects of climate change mitigation [50].”

    From Climate Distress: A Review of Current Psychological Research and Practice (2023) · cites this paper as [50]

  • Group polarisation and perceiving the beliefs of close friends and family members may be a large factor in whether information is ignored, depreciated, or embraced.

    “Group polarisation and perceiving the beliefs of close friends and family members may be a large factor in whether information is ignored, depreciated, or embraced [48][49][50].”

    From Climate Distress: A Review of Current Psychological Research and Practice (2023) · cites this paper as [50]

  • Acknowledging the uncertainty of the climate crisis is recommended, as portraying science as making rapid and effective progress can reduce the likelihood of individual action.

    “Acknowledging the uncertainty of the climate crisis is also recommended, as portraying science as making rapid and effective progress can reduce the likelihood of individual action [50].”

    From Climate Distress: A Review of Current Psychological Research and Practice (2023) · cites this paper as [50]

  • Place-and legacy-based interventions have been explored as effective motivational strategies.

    “Place-and legacy-based interventions have also been explored as effective motivational strategies [44,48,50,53,54].”

    From Climate Distress: A Review of Current Psychological Research and Practice (2023) · cites this paper as [50]

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Authors
Fielding, K. S., Hornsey, M. J., & Swim, J. K.
Affiliations
  • The University of Queensland (AU)
  • Pennsylvania State University (US)
Corresponding author
Fielding, Kelly S.
ORCID
Venue
European Journal of Social Psychology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2014-07-28
Volume
44
Issue
5
Pages
413-420
ISSN
  • 0046-2772 (ISSN-L)
  • 1099-0992
DOI
10.1002/ejsp.2058
OpenAlex
W2156894883
Cited by
67
References
96
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 4
FWCI
16.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
European Journal of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
Funders
Australian Research Council (DP120100961)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change Communication and Perception
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Environmental Education and Sustainability
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Risk Perception and Management
Keywords
climate action, public attitudes toward climate change, climate change denial, climate change risk perception, interdisciplinary climate research, public engagement with climate change

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