Geoengineering and Climate Change Polarization: Testing a Two-Channel Model of Science Communication

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

Volumn 658, Issue 1, 2015, Pages 192-222

  Kahan, Dan M ^a   Jenkins Smith, Hank ^b   Tarantola, Tor ^c   Silva, Carol L ^b   Braman, Donald ^d  

^a YALE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE   (United Kingdom)

^d GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

cognition; motivated reasoning; polarization; risk

Indexed keywords

EID: 84922806921     PISSN: 00027162     EISSN: 15523349     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0002716214559002     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. Allen Myles R.,Frame David J.,Huntingford Chris,Jones Chris D.,Lowe Jason A.,Meinshausen Malte,Meinshausen Nicolai.Warming caused by cumulative carbon emissions towards the trillionth tonne.Nature. 2009;458 (7242): 1163-66
2. Ansolabehere Stephen,Rivers Douglas.Cooperative survey research.Annual Review of Political Science. 2013;16 (1): 307-29
3. Binning Kevin R.,Brick Cameron,Cohen Geoffrey L.,Sherman David K.Going along versus getting it right: The role of self-integrity in political conformity.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2015;56:73-88
4. Breyer Stephen G.Breaking the vicious circle: Toward effective risk regulation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1993:
5. Cohen Geoffrey L.,Bastardi Anthony,Sherman David K.,Hsu Lillian,McGoey Michelle,Ross Lee.Bridging the partisan divide: Self-affirmation reduces ideological closed-mindedness and inflexibility in negotiation.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2007;93 (3): 415-30
6. Cohen Jacob,Cohen Patricia,West Stephen G.,Aiken Leona S.Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 2003:
7. Corner Adam,Pidgeon Nick,Parkhill Karen.Perceptions of geoengineering: Public attitudes, stakeholder perspectives, and the challenge of “upstream” engagement.Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change. 2012;3:451-66
8. Douglas Mary,Wildavsky Aaron B.Risk and culture: An essay on the selection of technical and environmental dangers. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; 1982:
9. Earle Timothy C.,Cvetkovich GeorgeSocial trust: Toward a cosmopolitan society. Westport, CT: Praeger; 1995:
10. Fischer Ronald.Standardization to account for cross-cultural response bias.Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology. 2004;35:263-82
11. Gigerenzer GerdAdaptive thinking: Rationality in the real world. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2000:
12. Hamilton Clive.Geoengineering: Our last hope, or a false promise? New.York Times. 2013;:
13. Climate change 2013: The physical science basis, Working Group I contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2013:
14. Climate change 2014: Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability, Working Group II contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2014:
15. Jenkins-Smith HankRisk, media, and stigma: Understanding public challenges to modern science and technology. Flynn JamesSlovic PaulKunreuther Howard, ed. London: Earthscan; 2001:107-32.
16. Jenkins-Smith Hank C.,Herron Kerry G.Rock and a hard place: Public willingness to trade civil rights and liberties for greater security.Politics & Policy. 2009;37:1095-1129
17. Jones Michael D.Cultural characters and climate change: How heroes shape our perception of climate science.Social Science Quarterly. 2014;95:1-39
18. Jost John T.,Hennes Erin P.,Lavine HowardOxford handbook of social cognition. Carlson D. E., ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2013:851-75.
19. Kahan Dan M.Climate science communication and the measurement problem.Advances in Political Psychology.:
20. Kahan Dan M.Handbook of risk theory: Epistemology, decision theory, ethics and social implications of risk. Hillerbrand RafaelaSandin PerRoeser SabinePeterson Martin, ed. London: Springer; 2012:725-59.
21. Kahan Dan M.Ideology, motivated reasoning, and cognitive reflection.Judgment and Decision Making. 2013;8:407-24
22. Kahan Dan M.,Braman Donald,Cohen Geoffrey,Gastil John,Slovic Paul.Who fears the HPV vaccine, who doesn’t, and why? An experimental study of the mechanisms of cultural cognition.Law and Human Behavior. 2010;34:501-16
23. Kahan Dan M.,Braman Donald,Gastil John,Slovic Paul,Mertz C. K.Culture and identity-protective cognition: Explaining the white-male effect in risk perception.Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. 2007;4 (3): 465-505
24. Kahan Dan M.,Braman Donald,Monahan John,Callahan Lisa,Peters Ellen.Cultural cognition and public policy: The case of outpatient commitment laws.Law and Human Behavior. 2010;34:118-40
25. Kahan Dan M.,Braman Donald,Slovic Paul,Gastil John,Cohen Geoffrey.Cultural cognition of the risks and benefits of nanotechnology.Nature Nanotechnology. 2009;4 (2): 87-91
26. Kahan Dan M.,Jenkins-Smith Hank,Braman Donald.Cultural cognition of scientific consensus.Journal of Risk Research. 2011;14:147-74
27. KahanDan M.PetersEllenDawsonErica CantrellSlovicPaul. 2013. Motivated numeracy and enlightened self-government. Cultural Cognition Project Working Paper No. 116.
28. Kahan Dan M.,Peters Ellen,Wittlin Maggie,Slovic Paul,Ouellette Lisa Larrimore,Braman Donald,Mandel Gregory.The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks.Nature Climate Change. 2012;2:732-35
29. Kahan Dan M.,Slovic Paul,Braman Donald,Gastil John.Fear of democracy: A cultural critique of Sunstein on risk.Harvard Law Review. 2006;119:1071-1109
30. Kahneman Daniel.Maps of bounded rationality: Psychology for behavioral economics.American Economic Review. 2003;93:1449-75
31. Keil Frank C.The feasibility of folk science.Cognitive Science. 2010;34:826-62
32. Lin Albert.Does geoengineering present a moral hazard?.Ecology Law Quarterly. 2013;40:673-712
33. Little Roderick J. A.,Rubin Donald B.Statistical analysis with missing data. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley; 2002:
34. Lodge Milton,Taber Charles S.The rationalizing voter. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 2013:
35. Lorenzoni Irene,Nicholson-Cole Sophie,Whitmarsh Lorraine.Barriers perceived to engaging with climate change among the UK public and their policy implications.Global Environmental Change. 2007;17:445-59
36. Mann Charles C.How to talk about climate change so people will listen.Atlantic. 2014;314:86-96
37. Morton Oliver.Climate crunch: Great white hope.Nature. 2009;458:1097-1100
38. Advancing the science of climate change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2010:
39. America’s climate choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2011:
40. Time to act.Nature. 2009;458:1077-78
41. Experiment Earth? Public dialogue on geoengineering. Swindon, UK: Natural Environment Research Council; 2010:
42. Nisbet Matthew C.Communicating climate change: Why frames matter for public engagement.Environment. 2009;51:2-23
43. Parson Edward.Reflections on air capture: The political economy of active intervention in the global environment.Climatic Change. 2006;74:5-15
44. PearceFred. 25September2013. World won’t cool without geoengineering, warns report. NewScientist. Available from http://www.newscientist.com.
45. Philipson Thomas J.,Posner Honorable Richard A.Private choices and public health: The AIDS epidemic in an economic perspective. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1993:
46. Pidgeon Nick,Corner Adam,Parkhill Karen,Spence Alexa,Butler Catherine,Poortinga Wouter.Exploring early public responses to geoengineering.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 2012;370:4176-96
47. Geoengineering the climate: Science, governance and uncertainty. London: Royal Society; 2009:
48. Shepherd Steven,Kay Aaron C.On the perpetuation of ignorance: System dependence, system justification, and the motivated avoidance of sociopolitical information.Journal of Personality & Social Psychology. 2012;102:264-80
49. Smith Eliot R.Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology. Reis Harry T.Judd Charles M., ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2000:17-39.
50. Solomon Susan,Plattner Gian-Kasper,Knutti Reto,Friedlingstein Pierre.Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2009;106:1704-09
51. Spiegelhalter David,Pearson Mike,Short Ian.Visualizing uncertainty about the future.Science. 2011;333:1393-1400
52. Starr Chauncey.Social benefit versus technological risk.Science. 1969;165:1232-38
53. Sunstein Cass R.Laws of fear: Beyond the precautionary principle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2005:
54. Sunstein Cass R.Misfearing: A reply.Harvard Law Review. 2006;119:1110-25
55. Thornes John,Bloss William,Bouzarovski Stefan,Cai Xiaoming,Chapman Lee,Clark Julian,Dessai Suraje,Du Sen,van der Horst Dan,Kendall Michaela,Kidd Chris,Randalls Samuel.Communicating the value of atmospheric services.Meteorological Applications. 2010;17:243-50
56. Tran Thanh V.Developing cross-cultural measurement. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2009:
57. Viscusi W. KipRisk by choice: Regulating health and safety in the workplace. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1983:
58. Weber Elke U.Experience-based and description-based perceptions of long-term risk: Why global warming does not scare us (yet).Climatic Change. 2006;77:103-20
59. Wildavsky Aaron,Dake Karl.Theories of risk perception: Who fears what and why?.Daedalus. 1990;114:41-60