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A representative survey experiment of motivated climate change denial

Author

Listed:
  • Lasse S. Stoetzer

    (IZA)

  • Florian Zimmermann

    (IZA
    University of Bonn)

Abstract

Climate change is arguably one of the greatest challenges today. Although the scientific consensus is that human activities caused climate change, a substantial part of the population downplays or denies human responsibility. In this registered report, we present causal evidence on a potential explanation for this discrepancy: motivated reasoning. We conducted a tailored survey experiment on a broadly representative sample of 4,000 US adults to provide causal evidence on how motivated cognition shapes beliefs about climate change and influences the demand for slanted information. We further explore the role of motives on environmentally harmful behaviour. Contrary to our hypotheses, we find no evidence that motivated cognition can help to explain widespread climate change denial and environmentally harmful behaviour. protocol registration The Stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 10 May 2023. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24523357.v1 .

Suggested Citation

  • Lasse S. Stoetzer & Florian Zimmermann, 2024. "A representative survey experiment of motivated climate change denial," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 14(2), pages 198-204, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:14:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1038_s41558-023-01910-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-023-01910-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mariana Blanco & Dirk Engelmann & Alexander Koch & Hans-Theo Normann, 2010. "Belief elicitation in experiments: is there a hedging problem?," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 13(4), pages 412-438, December.
    2. Charness, Gary & Gneezy, Uri & Halladay, Brianna, 2016. "Experimental methods: Pay one or pay all," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 131(PA), pages 141-150.
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    Cited by:

    1. Pace, Davide D. & Imai, Taisuke & Schwardmann, Peter & van der Weele, Joël J., 2025. "Uncertainty about carbon impact and the willingness to avoid CO2 emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).

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