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Measuring worries about climate change: The effect of a subtle wording change

Author

Listed:
  • Voorintholt, Lieke
  • Soetevent, Adriaan R.
  • van den Berg, Gerard J.

Abstract

Insight into public attitudes toward climate change requires accurate and consistent survey tools. The Understanding Society study asks respondents to what extent they agree that “The effects of climate change are too far in the future to worry me.” The phrasing “worry me” may prompt respondents to put relatively much weight on personal costs of climate change as opposed to societal costs, which we illustrate with a simple framework. We design and implement a survey experiment in which respondents are randomly assigned either to the original “worry me” question or to a version that replaces “worry me” with “worry about”. We find that reported climate change worries are on average significantly higher among the latter. This effect is mainly driven by the oldest age group, which can be explained by their expected shorter exposure to future climate change impacts. Results suggest that environmental attitude measures are sensitive to formulation details. We discuss the implications for the interpretation of previously collected data and for future research design.

Suggested Citation

  • Voorintholt, Lieke & Soetevent, Adriaan R. & van den Berg, Gerard J., 2026. "Measuring worries about climate change: The effect of a subtle wording change," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:115:y:2026:i:c:s0167487026000280
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2026.102904
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C83 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects

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