Record Details

Replication Data for: Persuading Climate Skeptics with Facts: Effects of Causal Evidence vs. Consensus Messaging

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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Title Replication Data for: Persuading Climate Skeptics with Facts: Effects of Causal Evidence vs. Consensus Messaging
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/ABEHSN
 
Creator Kim, Jin Woo
Ruijun Liu
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description Communicating the "97%"’ scientific consensus has been the centerpiece of the effort to persuade climate skeptics. Still, this strategy may not work well for those who mistrust climate scientists, to begin with. We examine how the American public---Republicans in particular---respond when provided with a relatively detailed causal explanation summarizing why scientists have concluded that human activities are responsible for climate change. Based on a preregistered survey experiment (N = 3007) we assessed the effectiveness of detailed causal evidence vs. traditional consensus messaging. We found that both treatments had noticeable effects on belief in human-caused climate change, with the causal evidence being slightly more effective, though we did not observe equivalent patterns in changes in attitudes toward climate policies. We conclude that conveying scientific information serves more as a remedy than a cure, reducing but not eliminating misperceptions about climate change and opposition to climate policies.
 
Subject Social Sciences
Climate change
Persuasion
Survey experiment
Public opinion
 
Date 2024-02-12
 
Contributor Kim, Jin Woo