Scientists Identify Five Key Ways to Engage the Public on Climate Change

Nov 18 2015
By Bessie Schwarz
Source Yale University

In a Nov. 18 study, scientists distill years of psychological research to identify five key lessons that policymakers can use to engage the general public on the issue of climate change and promote public support for climate policies.

President Barack Obama recently signed an executive order encouraging the federal government to use insights from behavioral science to better serve the American people. This study identifies five behavioral insights and provides several important policy recommendations:

  • The human brain prioritizes experience over analysis;
  • People are social beings who respond to group norms;
  • Out of sight, out of mind: It is important to reduce psychological distance;
  • Framing the big picture: Nobody like losing but everyone likes gaining; and
  • Playing the long-game: It is important to tap the potential of human motivation.

“In his executive order, President Obama highlights that behavioral science insights can support a range of national priorities. Although climate change policymaking has traditionally not been informed by the social and behavioral sciences, these five key psychological insights can improve the design of climate change policies as well as public engagement with the issue,” said lead researcher Sander van der Linden, postdoctoral research associate and lecturer at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

The article is part of a special science issue featured in Perspectives on Psychological Science showcasing how psychological science can inform public policymaking. The study was conducted by researchers from Princeton, Yale University and George Mason University. The research was co-funded by Princeton’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, the National Science Foundation and NASA.  

In addition to van der Linden, co-authors included Anthony Leiserowitz of Yale University and Edward Maibach of George Mason University.

For questions about the study, contact one of the authors below.

For more information, click here. For a PDF of the study, click here.